Kuerten and Kafelnikov leave Rafter behind

Kuerten and Kafelnikov leave Rafter behind
AGENCIES

Rome, May 10: Defending champion Gustavo Kuerten and second seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov made winning starts to the tennis Masters Series event here on Tuesday, but there was an upset for last year's runner-up Patrick Rafter.

Rafter, seeded 12th, was the first seed to bow out of the 2.95 million-dollar tournament on the red clay of the Foro Italico - but he was soon followed by Britain's Greg Rusedski and later by former winner Marcelo Rios of Chile.

Rafter looked to be heading for victory before getting into trouble in the second set and badly losing his length in the third. He was not the only serve and volley player in trouble, though.

He saved a first match point with a cross-court drive after a protracted rally and was spared another when Bohdan double-faulted. But the Czech was third time lucky with a forehand winner to book his place in the next round.

Dismissing a right shoulder problem which had been troubling him, he said: ``I went amiss. I was serving very well in the first set and a half, and it was hard to keep that standard of serving up.

Kuerten had no trouble in his match, finding his feet in the first set and routing his opponent in the second as the Frenchman's service went to pieces.

It was a double celebration for Kuerten, winner of the 1997 French Open, as he could play without the back pain, caused by an inflamed disc, which has recently plagued him.

``Now I feel no pain. Today, I played as well as I have been for the past two or three weeks, but feeling much more comfortable is a completely different feeling,'' he said.

``I was relaxed and trying my shots. If I missed it was okay - I just tried to think about the next point and not about any pain going away.''

Kafelnikov seemed to face defeat in his centre court match-trailing 5-2 and 15-30 to Gaudenzi in the third set before rallying to victory.

``The match was there to be won and I lost it,'' Gaudenzi lamented afterwards.

Rios, a Rome winner in 1998 and finalist in 1997, was hammered 6-1, 6-4 by 20-year-old Marat Safin, who is here after winning tournaments in Barcelona and Mallorca.

The big-serving Russian could have finished the job a game early, missing three match points on the 11th seed's serve at 5-3, before reaching the second round with a searing backhand down the line.

Rusedski, seeded 13th, was another victim of the heavy court as he was hammered 6-3, 6-1 by Spain's Fernando Vicente.

``It's usually quick, dry, fast and flying,'' Rusedski said. ``With all this rain, I think ... none of the serve and volley players survived at all.''