Santoro off to a stunning start

Dubai: French veteran Fabrice Santoro weaved his magic on centre court to send last year's finalist Mikhail Youzhny out of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Stadium here yesterday.

Santoro, a winner here in 2002 and the runner-up at the inaugural edition in 1993, used his subtle game to outclass his Russian opponent in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 23 minutes.

"I had worked on my serve during practice and the idea was to keep him [Youzhny] away from getting any angles to make his shots," Santoro explained.

The 35-year-old French player was in total control notching up a break in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead. He kept up the momentum, and with his first serves coming in handy, wrapped up the set 6-3 in a little over half an hour.

"I am pleased with the way I played out there. Mikhail is a consistent player and I had to mix up my game well to disturb his rhythm," Santoro smiled.

He kept up the pressure in the second set with his first break coming up in the fifth to go 3-2 clear. The moment of the match was in the second game of the second set when Santoro hit a reflex backhand shot from behind his back.

"I don't know if I will be able to play the same shot again tomorrow," Santoro smiled.

With the advantage on his side, Santoro failed to hold serve in the sixth to allow his Russian opponent to square things up at 3-3. But he made no alterations in his overall game, serving deep to Youzhny's forehand and mixing up the rallies with slices, topspin and deft drops at the net to serve out for set and match 6-4.

"I made far too many errors. It is not possible to play at the same level at all the tournaments," stated Youzhny, who now heads for the American circuit starting with Indian Wells next week.

The Germans did not have too good a day with Rainer Schuettler going down in three sets 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-1 to Spaniard Fernando Verdasco after fourth seed David Ferrer had accounted for Tommy Haas in straight sets 6-3, 6-0.

In other matches, qualifier Jan Hernych kept the good things going with an upset 6-4, 6-4 win over Swiss Davis Cup star Stanislas Wawrinka, while Igor Andreev side-stepped a second qualifier, Jan Minar of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4.

Results

Singles: Fabrice Santoro bt Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4; Jan Hernych bt Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4; Igor Andreev bt Jan Minar 6-3, 6-4; David Ferrer bt Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-0; Fernando Verdasco bt Rainer Schuettler 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-1.

Order of Play: Centre Court (Start at 2 pm) Gael Monfils vs Tomas Berdych; Philipp Kohlschreiber vs Rafael Nadal; (7 pm) Marin Cilic vs Novak Djokovic; Andy Roddick vs Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Court No.1 (Start at 2 pm) Mahmoud Nader vs Mikhail Ledovskikh; Janko Tipsarevic vs Feliciano Lopez; (5 pm) Richard Gasquet/Fabrice Santoro vs David Ferrer/Fernando Verdasco; (7 pm) Paul Hanley/Leander Paes vs Simon Aspelin/Julian Knowle.

Court No.2 (Start at 2 pm) Joseph Sirianni vs Paul-Henri Mathieu; Jarkko Nieminen vs Olivier Rochus; Igor Andreev/Paul-Henri Mathieu vs Rohan Bopanna/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

I'm pleased with the way I played out. Mikhail is a consistent player and I had to mix up my game well to disturb his rhythm."

Fabrice Santoro
French player