Kuerten sweeps into second round of Brazil Open
Gustavo Kuerten, still trying to recover his best form following his hip operation earlier this year, made a good start to the Brazil Open with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Austria's Julian Knowle on Tuesday.
Kuerten, celebrating his 26th birthday, suffered a few stutters in the opening set before imposing his authority on the first-round match.
"I was a bit more nervous than usual. My concentration dropped a bit in the first set but the second was easier and I took control of the game," said the sixth-seeded Brazilian.
"I'm improving little by little, I'm enjoying the game more and I'm hitting the ball well. Hopefully, I can at least make my first semi-final this year."
Earlier, Fernando Meligeni became the first Brazilian to reach the second round in either the men's or the women's event when he came from behind to beat Alex Kim of the United States.
Kim retired because of cramps with ninth seed Meligeni leading 4-6 6-3 4-1.
Brazil's number two struggled to find his rhythm and lost the first set after being broken in the ninth game. But, encouraged by an early break in the second, Meligeni produced some of his best tennis to the delight of the home crowd.
"I've become more mature and now I'm capable of turning a game around," he said. "A while back, I would have lost this match 6-4 6-2."
An excellent day for Brazil continued when Andre Sa beat Peru's Ivan Miranda 6-2 6-2 and Julio Silva overcame Switzerland's George Bastl 6-4 6-1.
U.S. Open semi-finalist Sjeng Schalken, the No. 2 seed from the Netherlands, dispatched Germany's Michael Kohlmann 6-2 7-6.
Fourth seed Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina also beat Italian Stefano Galvani 6-4 6-4 and seventh seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia put out Germany's Maximilian Abel 7-6 6-3.
In the women's event, South America's remaining two players both fell at the first hurdle.
Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga went down to eighth-seeded Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 4-6 6-3 6-1 while Argentina's Paola Suarez was trounced 6-2 6-2 by Tina Pisnik of Slovenia.
Qualifier Myriam Casanova of Switzerland earned a second-round tie against top seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia when she beat Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-4 4-6 7-6.
