Rusedski Survives, Goran Goes Out

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Britain's Greg Rusedski held off a spirited comeback from No. 15 seed Robby Ginepri to reach the second round of the Stella Artois Championships at The Queen's Club.

Rusedski, a semifinalist in 1997, claimed a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-0 victory over the young American to record his first match win on the ATP circuit since last year's US Open.

"I was pretty pleased with the way I finished off the match," said Rusedski. "I started off well with the 3-0 lead but had a few lapses during the match after having been off court for so long. I played five great points in the tie-break [to lead 5-0] and then played five very average points I would say.

" But then I got the confidence back in the third and started swinging away. Hopefully this will be one of the matches that I need to get back."

The 29-year-old Rusedski, who underwent foot surgery last October and then knee surgery in March, reached the quarterfinals at last week's Challenger event in Surbiton after making his comeback at Roland Garros.

Formidable

Rusedski opened up a 3-0 lead against Ginepri before the American forced his way into the match only to see Rusedski win the first five points of the tie-break. But Ginepri, a quarterfinalist this year at the Tennis Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami, leveled at 5-5 before Rusedski reasserted his authority on the match to win the next two points.

Ginepri broke the formidable Rusedski serve for a second time in the eighth game of the second set before holding his own delivery to level matters, but the Briton came out firing in the third to clinch his place in the second round.

"I'm definitely moving in the right direction," said Rusedski. "I just need a bit of movement to improve. I'm probably playing at 75-80 percent and there's definitely room for improvement. I just need another one, two, three matches, get into the tournament, and then that will come back. If I can play with the same kind of intensity that I had in the third set, I have a chance to do well."

Rusedski will now meet Hicham Arazi, the man he could also meet later this year when the British Davis Cup team faces Morocco in September.

Non Negotiation

Goran Ivanisevic, the man who defeated Rusedski in the semifinal six years ago, was not as successful as he went in search of his first win on the ATP circuit in more than a year. The former Wimbledon champion, who had not won a match at this level since the 2002 NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, has also been under the knife following shoulder and foot injuries.

The 31-year-old from Croatia, who became a father in April, was still suffering with shoulder and elbow problems as he went down 6-2, 6-2 against Jan Vacek of the Czech Republic, who will now play another former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek in the next round.

"I've had problems with my elbow since I came back at the Heilbronn Challenger [in January] and against the States in Davis Cup, and in Indian Wells against [Gustavo] Kuerten," said Ivanisevic. "I can't explain it. It's one year since I had my surgery and I hadn't played since the accident in Miami [where he injured his foot on the beach]. I started to play six days ago, so I didn't expect anything spectacular here. It was getting colder and he was returning very well. I can't get one or two free points on my serve and expect to win.

"I've never played well here [at Queen's]. When I won Wimbledon I had a disaster here. I played better today than I did in that match. My goal was to come here to England to see what happened, so I failed. Not because I lost the match, but because of my shoulder and my elbow. There's still two weeks to go so I hope I can manage something. I'll have some scans tomorrow and see what's going on."

Strawberries

Looking ahead, Ivanisevic added: "I'm not sure if I'm going to play at Wimbledon, but there's still time. It's like going to Rome and not seeing the Pope, it's frustrating to come to England and not go to Wimbledon. Maybe I can cut some grass, or paint some lines, or serve some strawberries.

"I said to God before I won Wimbledon, just let me win this match and I don't care if I never play tennis again. Then, after 13 years with no injuries, all these things happen. So maybe he heard and now it's tough to negotiate with God. It's non-negotiation with him."

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