Courier falters in first round at Shanghai Open

SHANGHAI, OCT 6: Todd Woodbridge beat Jim Courier in a dramatic tiebreak finish to their first round clash in the $ 340,000 Shanghai Open...

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SHANGHAI, OCT 6: Todd Woodbridge beat Jim Courier in a dramatic tiebreak finish to their first round clash in the $ 340,000 Shanghai Open today.

The Australian recovered from 4-1 down to win the tie-break 8-6, eliminating a stunned Courier 1-6 6-3 7-6.

Courier seemed set for victory until he double-faulted against his eighth-seeded opponent. “He let me in the door,” said Woodbridge after recording his first win in five meetings with the big-serving American in main draw events.

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Courier, once world number one but now 72, was a wild card entry and clearly anxious for a win.

Top seed Goran Ivanisevic and number two seed Michael Chang play their first round matches tomorrow.

Pierce beats Coetzer

FILDERSTADT: France’s Mary Pierce routed Amanda Coetzer 6-2, 6-2 to kick off the Porsche Grand Prix.

But the match just set the stage for the real battle at the $ 450,000 event the question of who will be the world’s no. 1 player next week.

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Pierce next faces Lindsay Davenport, the second-rankedAmerican who could lose that second-round match and still end Hingis’ long reign as the world’s top-ranked player.

In fact, Davenport seems more likely to finish the event as no. 1 than Hingis amidst a tough field where 18 of the world’s top players 20 players are entered.

Hingis, the defending champion, must reach the final or be automatically be bumped from the top by her tall American rival.

And the Swiss teenager has a tough draw, where her three matches to the final could find her slugging it out against Russia’s Anna Kournikova, Venus Williams and world no. 3 Jana Novotna.

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Davenport would also advance to no. 1 if she wins two matches and Hingis loses the final, or if she reaches the final herself.

Pierce, ranked 11th in the world, yesterday needed just 65 minutes to oust Coetzer, the no. 10. Lisa Raymond of the United States outlasted Romania’s Ruxandra Dragomir, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the only other match.

Neither Coetzer or Pierce, despite their high rankings, were among the eight seeds sincethe only top 10 player missing is Monica Seles.

Seles has refused to play in Germany since she was stabbed in Hamburg in 1993.