Spain's 2004 Davis Cup hero Rafael Nadal delighted the fans at Doha with a had-fought win over No. 4 seed Makhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6(3) in one hour and 34 minutes. Nadal opened up a 2-0 lead but Youzhny leveled to 2-2. Nadal again broke in the sixth game. Nadal also went 1-0 up in the second with a break but Youzhny got back to 1-1. From 3-3 in the tie-break Nadal won the last four points of the match. Nadal converted all 3 break points he held.

French hope Gael Monfils advanced to the third straight second round since his ATP debut by upsetting no. 2 seed and French Open champion Gaston Gaudio 6-4, 7-6 (4). Monfils, who entered Doha as a Wild Card claimed his first win over a top 10 player in one hour and 37 minutes of play.

No. 3 seed Sebastien Grosjean got off to a good start in 2005 by defeating Luxembourg's Gilles Muller 7-6(3), 6-2 in one hour and 37minutes. The Frenchman looked fresh in his f irst match for Grosjean since 2004 US Open, having been out with left thigh injury. Muller served for the first set at 6-5, but Grosjean came back immediately to take the first set I na tie-break. Grosjean won 5 straight games from 0-1 in the second set. With the win, the Frenchman advances to the second round and will face Korea's sensation Hyung-Taik Lee.

No. 8 seed was withstood Ivo Karlovic's blistering serve and won 7-6(7), 6-3 to advance to the second round. With the win, Davydenko now leads the series against Karlovic 2-1. He will now play Slovakia's Karol Beck, who defeated Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-4.

The battle of veterans between Fabrice Santoro and Thomas Johansson was won by the Frenchman with a final 6-4, 6-2 scoreline. Santoro is now 2-7 against Johansson. He will face Monfils for a spot in the quarterfinals.

In other matches of the day, Marco Chiudinelli upset No. 5 seed Andrei Pavel 75 67( 64 and will face Albert Costa, who defeated David Sanchez 6-3, 6-4. Karol Beck also advanced to the second round by overcoming Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-4.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:

Santoro: �It was a very good first match. It's always very interesting to see if you are able to play good tennis or not in the first match of the year. Actually, I did that today and I'm very happy about that.�

�It's always special for me to be back in Doha because I have very good memories from here. But today I was very nervous before the match because I knew that Thomas is a great player, beating me a lot of times in the past.�

Grosjean: �I feel happy to win this first round. I didn't play since the US Open so it wasn't easy, but I'm happy to win the first match of the year.�

�I had to stop for almost six weeks and I started practicing again in November. Physically I feel well and now I need to play matches.�

Gaudio: �It's always difficult to play the first match of the year, getting used to the tennis again. I was trying to get back into the match but he was playing great. He deserved it for sure.�

�I heard so much about him but I saw saw him or played against him so it's always difficult playing a guy you don't know. He's a great player and will have an enormous future for sure. I was playing good tennis today and that made me feel good and I hope to continue like this.�

Monfils: �I'm very happy because I played very good tennis. I have a lot of confidence in my game. I'm happy to win my first match against a top ten player. I don't know if it was my best match, but it was a very good one.�

About playing Santoro: � I hope to play well, I think it will be a very enjoyable match. I respect him a lot, he is a very good guy and has a lot of experience. When I was young I watched him on TV, winning the Davis Cup. I really respect him a lot.�

WEDNESDAY PREVIEW

In Day Three the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open, t op seed Roger Federer, the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race winner and World No. 1. In 2004 will face net-rusher Greg Rusedski for a spot in the quarterfinals. The Swiss superstar holds a 2-1 lead over Rusedski with their last match won by Federer in the first round of Masters Series Montreal 2003 with a final 6-4, 6-3 scoreline.

Federer achieved one of best seasons in nearly two decades, capturing an ATP-best 11 titles in as many finals, including three Grand Slam and three ATP Masters Series victories. He also became first player since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three Grand Slam titles in a season and fourth player overall in Open Era to win at least three in a year (Connors won three in 1974, Laver won four in 1969). Federer is the first player in Open Era to win his first four Grand Slam finals.

Federer comes into Doha with a 18-match winning streak (since Athens Olympics) and is enjoying an 18-0 record against Top 10 opponents (23-0 going back to '03 TMC in Houston), defeating every member of year-end Top 10. The 23-year-old plays in Qatar for the second time, having reached the quarterfinals in 2003 (l. to Gambill).

Rusedski hopes to continue his strong play since July 2004 in his bid to upset the world's No. 1. After a slow first semester, the Briton won Newport in July (d. Popp) and went on to reach the quarterfinals or better in four more tournaments. He finished the year with a 26-16 record and No. 48 in the INDESIT ATP Final 2004 Race. Rusedksi will play Doha for the third time and hopes to improve on his best performance dated back to 1998 (l. to Santoro in the quarterfinals).

After upsetting No. 2 seed Gaston Gaudio on Tuesday, Gael Monfils will face Fabrice Santoro in an All-French battle for a spot in the quarterfinals. It will be their first match in an ATP event. Monfils, the 2004 no. 1 junior in the world, won three of four junior Grand Slam events (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon) in 2004. He improved his INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking by over 600 positions in October. He posted wins over Malisse and Patience to reach the quarterfinals in his ATP debut in Metz and defeated Thomas Enqvist to reach the second round of the BNP Paribas Masters Series, where he lost in a close match to Lleyton Hewitt.

Santoro enters 2005 ranked No. 52 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking after a solid 2004 season. His best results came in Toronto (l. to Federer) and Cincinnati (l. to Robredo), where he reached the quarterfinals.

No. 3 seed Sebastien Grosjean will play Asian hope Hyung-Taik Lee for a place in the last eight. It will be their first meet in an ATP event. L ast season, he became the first Frenchman to finish in Top 20 for five consecutive years since Yannick Noah from 1981-89. Despite not winning an ATP title for second straight season, he had impressive results at Grand Slams, making quarterfinals at the Australian Open and semifinals at Wimbledon. He has reached at least one Grand Slam quarterfinal each of last four years and became first Frenchman to advance to Wimbledon SF in back-to-back years in Open Era. Grosjean struggled with a left thigh injury in 2004, having to retire against Agassi in the Australian Open quarterfinals and after losing in second round at US Open he did not play the rest of season.

Lee comes off a strong first round win over Ukranian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-0, 6-2 and will look to advance to the quarterfinals of an ATP event for the first time since Beijing (October '04) where he lost to Srichaphan. Lee finished 2004 as the second highest East Asian player (behind Srichaphan) in the INDESIT ATP Entry rankings as the No. 59 player in the world.

In another promising match of the day, Rafael Nadal will take a 1-0 lead over countryman Fernando Verdasco for a place in the quarterfinals. The 18-year old from Mallorca won 6-2, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Hamburg challenger (carpet) in 2003. Nadal finished 2004 ranked No. 51 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking. He was one of only two players (Henman also) to defeat No.1 Federer and No. 2 Roddick in 2004. He also won his career-first ATP event in Sopot.

Verdasco won his career-first ATP tournament in Valencia (d. Montanes) and reached the final in Acapulco (l. to Moya). He finished No. 34 in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race becoming the second highest left-handed player in the rankings (after F. Lopez).

No. 6 seed and last year's finalist Ivan Ljubicic will play Spaniard Marc Lopez for a place in the quarterfinals and the opportunity to face the winner of Federer and Rusedski. The 25-year-old Croat finshed in the t op 25 for first time in his career in 2004. He won a personal-best 37 matches and advanced to the quarterfinals or better in seven tournaments. The No. 1 Croat played well in ATP Masters Series tournaments with SF showings in Hamburg (l. to Coria) and Madrid (d. No. 5 Henman, l. to Nalbandian) along with 3rd RD in Miami and Monte Carlo. He finished the season in style with quarterfinal showings in Metz and Basel, and reaching the semifinals in Madrid.

In 2004, Lopez reached the quarterfinals in Valencia (l. to Montanes) and Sopot (l. to Monaco) finishing the year ranked No. 149 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Rankings.

No. 7 seed Feliciano Lopez will play Italian qualifier Uros Vico for the first time in his career. Lopez is currently No. 25 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Rankings and is currently the highest ranked left-handed player in the ATP circuit.

After entering the draw from the qualifying, Vico won his first ATP match on Monday against Nicolas Mahut. He made his ATP debut in ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo in 2004 losing in the first round to Jarko Nieminen. The 23-year-old Italian has been climbing up the rankings in 2004 by winning one challenger and two futures.