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Nalbandian, Massu and Henman advance
Second seed Tim Henman moves into the second round of the Swiss Indoors tournament in Basel.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:09 AM IST
Read Time:3 min
Basel:
Second seed Tim Henman put a magnesium deficiency behind him to move comfortably into the second round of the Swiss Indoors tournament in Basel on Wednesday. Henman beat Frenchman Antony Dupuis 6-3, 6-4 and there were also victories for fourth seed David Nalbandian and seventh seed Nicolas Massu. Nalbandian beat Croatia's Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-3, whilst Massu saw off local player Michel Kratochvil 6-3, 6-2. Following the withdrawal of world number one Roger Federer with a thigh injury, second seeded Englishman Tim Henman is the highest seed remaining. On Wednesday he was up against Frenchman Antony Dupuis in the opening round, and overcame concerns about his fitness to complete a comfortable straight sets victory. The 30-year-old British number one, who was diagnosed with a magnesium deficiency following last week's Madrid Masters, was rarely in difficulty against the unpredictable Frenchman. Twice a winner of this tournament, Henman broke serve early on to go ahead 3-1, before securing the opening set 6-3. Dupuis, though, hit back to go a break of serve up in the second set, and the match appeared to be heading for a decider. But Henman battled back from the break down to regain the initiative and broke the Dupuis serve twice to seal a 6-3, 6-4 victory in just an hour and a quarter. He will play South African qualifier Wesley Moodie in the next round. Local player Ivo Heuberger received a wildcard entry into the Swiss Indoors tournament and repaid the organisers with a straight sets victory over American Taylor Dent. Heuberger's groundstrokes were too good for Dent's serve-and-volley game, and the Swiss cruised to victory, 6-2, 6-3. The man, though, that everyone had hoped to see did his bit by appearing at a coaching clinic at the tournament venue. World number one Roger Federer was forced to withdraw from the tournament on Tuesday, due to injury. Federer, who ruptured a thigh muscle fibre during a practice session, is expected to be out of action for 10 to 14 days. But he made an appearance in front of a group of excited children, and even did a stint as umpire, whilst casting his eye over the talent in front of him. Whilst Federer was taking things easy, the tournament continued around him, with fourth seed David Nalbandian taking on the big-serving Mario Ancic. The Croatian has the ability to trouble seeded players, with his booming serve and powerful groundstrokes. But Nalbandian is in the middle of a good run at the moment, and picked off his dangerous opponent with relative ease. The first set went the way of the Argentinian, 6-4, before the fourth seed pushed on to clinch the second 6-3 to complete a comfortable victory over Ancic. Another seeded player in action on Wednesday was seventh seed Nicolas Massu of Chile. The Olympic champion found himself up against local player Michel Kratochvil. Despite the partisan crowd, Massu was able to dominate his opponent from the start and clinched the first set 6-3. Kratochvil, looking to mount a challenge in the absence of fellow Swiss and world number one Roger Federer, failed to raise his game in the second set and a couple of breaks of serve was all Massu needed to wrap up the match. The final score, 6-3, 6-2. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis
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