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MONTE CARLO: Britain’s Andy Murray and Sam Querrey of the United
States struck a double blow for the new generation at the Monte
Carlo Masters on Monday.
Murray, the 14th seed, buried the painful memory
of his last visit to Monaco with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 win over Spain’s
Feliciano Lopez while fellow 20-year-old Querrey stunned former
French Open champion Carlos Moya, the 10th seeded Spaniard, 6-3,
1-6, 6-3.
It was 31-year-old Moya’s fourth successive
opening round defeat here, a dismal record for a former world number
one who was Monte Carlo champion in 1998.
Querrey, the world number 50 and the only
American in the tournament, won his first career title in Las Vegas
earlier this year and his giant 198cm (6’6”) frame proved no
hindrance on the clay courts where Moya was playing for the 12th
time.
Murray, with titles in Qatar and Marseille
already in 2008, broke in the first and seventh games of the second
set to lead 5-2 before Lopez rallied to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Lopez saved one match point in the next game but
then buried a forehand in the net to hand the Scot victory after 93
minutes on court.
Mario Ancic, who battled crippling glandular
fever in 2007, also moved into the second round.
The Croatian, a former top 10 player and Davis
Cup winner, eased past Czech qualifier Ivo Minar 6-3, 6-4 to set-up
a meeting with second seed Rafael Nadal, the triple champion here
whose wins in 2005, 2006 and 2007 prefaced three French Open
triumphs.
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