Roddick, Ferrero struggle at Paris Masters

PARIS -- U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick and Juan Carlos Ferrero won tough matches Tuesday in advancing to the third round of the Masters.

Roddick, seeded second, edged Victor Hanescu of Romania, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), and will next play Tommy Robredo of Spain.

"I was lucky to even take the first set to a tiebreaker," Roddick said. "He had a couple of set points but I scrapped, clawed around and hung in there."

The top-ranked Ferrero withstood the booming serves of French qualifier Nicolas Mahut in a 7-6 (7), 6-4 victory.

"I had never seen him play before," Ferrero said. "But if he maintains that level of play he can go far."

Ferrero, who this year won the French Open and two Masters titles, will face the winner of Wednesday's match between Fabrice Santoro and Jiri Novak.

Three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil ousted big-serving American Mardy Fish 6-4, 7-6 (2). Kuerten faces another powerful server in the second round -- ninth-seeded Mark Philippoussis of Australia.

"I served pretty well and did well on the important points," Kuerten said. "Right now, with six victories in a row it's feeling pretty nice."

In other second-round matches, Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand scored a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over Karol Beck of Slovakia. The eighth-seeded Paradorn, a semifinalist last year, will next play Morocco's Hicham Arazi.

Arazi won when countryman and 12th-seeded Younes El Aynaoui quit with a heel injury while up 4-6, 6-3, 2-1. Robredo, seeded 16th, downed Gaston Gaudio of Argentina 7-5, 6-3.

Chile's Nicolas Massu, seeded 10th, labored to a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over former French Open champion Albert Costa.

Spain's Feliciano Lopez, Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty and Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman also advanced.

The Paris Masters is crucial for the ATP Champions Race, where players collect points to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup -- a season-ending tournament featuring the year's best eight players.

Paradorn, 11th in the Champions Race, must win the Paris Masters to secure the last spot in next month's Masters Cup in Houston.

"It would be really nice to have an Asian player in Houston for the Masters Cup," Paradorn said. "If it happens it's great for Asian tennis."

TENNIS

  • Seventh-seeded Anca Barna beat Eva Fislova, 7-5, 6-3, to advance to the second round of the Bell Challenge. American Laura Granville, seeded fourth, advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over countrywoman Kristina Brandi. In other matches: Milagros Sequera beat Meilen Tu, 6-4, 6-0; Iveta Benesova defeated Jill Craybas, 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-2; Alina Jidkova defeated Ansley Cargill, 6-3, 6-1; and Gisela Dulko downed Sarah Taylor, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-2.

  • Alexandra Stevenson rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third set and beat Silvija Talaja, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, to advance to the second round of the Advanta Championships. Nicole Pratt beat Teryn Ashley, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (2), and Meghann Shaughnessy beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 6-3, 6-2, in the other singles matches during the day session.

    BOXING

  • Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson owes creditors more than $27 million, including $61,000 to a Ferrari dealer and $174,000 to a Las Vegas jeweler. Now current champ Lennox Lewis is asking a bankruptcy judge to liquidate Tyson's assets so he can recoup $20 million. Tyson, who has made more than $200 million boxing, filed for bankruptcy in August along with Mike Tyson Enterprises Inc. Lewis asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper in New York to change the case to Chapter 7, which results in liquidation, from Chapter 11, which allows debts to be restructured. Last year, Tyson received about $17.5 million for a championship fight against Lewis, who retained his title with an eighth-round knockout. In June, Lewis filed a $20 million lawsuit against Tyson accusing him of breaching a contract for a rematch. The lawsuit was put on hold after Tyson's bankruptcy filing.

  • Evander Holyfield isn't ready to quit yet. The 41-year-old former heavyweight champion says he'll fight on, despite taking a beating from James Toney earlier this month. In a letter to his fans posted on his Web site, Holyfield said he just had a bad night against Toney and still has a goal of winning the heavyweight title for a fifth time. Holyfield, who has won only two of his last eight fights, took a beating from Toney on Oct. 4 before his corner finally threw in the towel in the ninth round. Toney beat him to the punch almost every time, and Holyfield admitted afterward he couldn't seem to throw punches even when he saw openings.

    COLLEGE BASKETBALL

  • Wheeling Jesuit and Charleston (W.Va.) finished in a tie for the top spot in a preseason poll to win the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's title. Each team received 78 points in voting by the league's coaches. Charleston had the upper hand in first-place votes 5-3. Only the top seven teams among the 15-team league are listed in the poll. Wheeling Jesuit, 1 of 2 district schools in the WVIAC, returns four starters -- all having averaged double figures in scoring last season -- from a team with a 22-8 record, including 14-4 in the league. Charleston was 21-10 and 13-5.

    HORSE RACING

  • The president of Pimlico warns that the home of the Preakness Stakes could close if slot machines are permitted elsewhere in the state and not at the Baltimore track.

    OLYMPICS

  • Jury selection started in the Olympic bribery trial, which will determine whether two Salt Lake City bid leaders broke the law to bring the 2002 Winter Games to Utah. The jury will be selected from about 80 prospects who filed into the federal courtroom past tight security. The trial could last as long as six weeks. Tom Welch, 59, the bid leader, and Dave Johnson, 44, his deputy, are accused of doling out $1 million in cash, gifts and favors to win the Winter Games for Salt Lake City. The defense argues that the extravagant gifts to Olympic officials were merely business as usual.

    SOFTBALL

    Beijing will host the next women's world championship in softball in 2006. The International Softball Federation also selected Summerside, Prince Edward Island, as the site of the junior men's world championship in 2005.


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