Kuerten qualifies for Tennis Channel Open

Las Vegas:

Former world No 1 Gustavo Kuerten entered the main draw of the Tennis Channel Open through an unfamiliar door on Monday. The three-time French Open champion from Brazil defeated Wesley Moodie of South Africa, 6-4, 7-5 in an elimination match. He advanced to the 24-player round robin where he will play either Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic or eighth-seeded Benjamin Becker of Germany on Wednesday. "For me, this was huge," Kuerten said. "It's going to be a busy week for me with the singles and doubles. It has been more than a year and a half since I have played more than four matches in one week." Moodie won the first game of both sets, but Kuerten never trailed after that. Kuerten underwent hip surgery in 2004 and played only 17 matches over the next two years. He competed in one singles in 2006 and got back on the court only last month in Chile. Kuerten is ranked 736th in the world and has a 2-3 record for 2007. In another elimination match, former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden defeated Bjorn Phau of Germany, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. In Monday's three round-robin matches, fifth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to end a three-match losing streak since the Australian Open; Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina beat Evgeny Korolev of Russia 6-3, 6-2; and Paul Goldstein of the United States flattened sixth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France 6-1, 6-0.