No. 1 seed and defending champion Carlos Moya advanced to the second round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel by defeating Nicolas Lapentti 6-4, 7-6(4). It is the first time in five matches, that Moya overcomes the Ecuador-native and former top 10 Lapentti.
After losing the second set and with the score tied at one set a piece (6-2, 5-7), No. 2 seed Gaston Gaudio was not able to finish his match against Tomas Zib due to an acute pain on his hip. The Argentine could not play Costa du Sauipe due to an abdominal pain/injury.
No. 8 seed and most recent champion in the Latin Swing in Costa du Sauipe, Rafael Nadal, was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over fellow countryman Alex Calatrava. With the win, Nadal wins his sixth consecutive match and improves to 13-4 in the year.
In other first round matches, No. 6 Filippo Volandri, Felix Mantilla, Oscar Hernandez and Nicolas Devilder were straight-set winners.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Volandri: "Zabaleta always plays at a very high and intensive level. I am very motivated and that helped me. At the same time I played quite early with a big sun making the conditions much faster and I believe that also helped my game"
Nadal: "It was my first match here and I am very happy the way the result went since I did not play great. Alex is a very experienced guy and I am still learning. I like this tournament and I hope I can make it to quarters or semis so that I can collect some important points for the year"
Gaudio: "I have to make some tests tomorrow to see the reality. I felt some pain on my left hip and want to check it out. I don't know if it will be one day, one week or one ,month off, we'll see."
"I am happy the way I started the season winning back to back titles in Chile and Argentina. It is bad luck this two events but I am still happy the way I am playing"
Moya: "I played well today specially at the end of the match. I really served well in the tie break. Finally I managed to beat Nicolas. He is one of my best friends and I am happy for him to see he is playing much better now. I wish him all the best of lucks"
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