MONTE CARLO - Defending champion Cedric Pioline put recent poor form behind him to beat Germany's David Prinosil 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the $US2.95 million ($7.37 million) Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament yesterday.
But last year's runner-up, Dominik Hrbaty, did not fare so well. Seeded 10th, he lost to Spanish clay-courter Albert Costa 5-7, 4-6.
Frenchman Pioline, the 31-year-old former Wimbledon runner-up, took just 57 minutes to beat Prinosil to set up a second-round clash with Australia's Andrew Ilie.
Other seeds to fare less well on the opening day of the first major clay court event of the season were Alex Corretja and Arnaud Clement.
Fifth-seed Corretja, making his 2001 debut on the slow surface, was beaten 7-6, 2-6, 2-6 by Swedish qualifier Magnus Gustafsson.
Sixth-seed Clement, a runner-up at the Australian Open at the start of the year, fell 7-6, 2-6, 6-7 to compatriot wildcard Jerome Golmard.
Pioline was joined in the second round by 15th seed Roger Federer after he ended Michael Chang's hopes.
The 6-4, 6-3 victory was Federer's first at the Monaco tournament in three attempts, and leaves Chang without a win here. He lost his opening matches in 2000 and 1996 as well.
"It's a great victory because Chang is a very good clay court player," Federer said after his 84-minute match.
Both players struggled to hold serve on the sun-kissed centre court.
They exchanged five breaks in the first set before Federer took a grip and finally broke for the set when the American double-faulted.
Chang, French Open champion in 1989, joined Nicolas Kiefer as a first-round casualty, after the German was dumped out by an 18-year-old.
The former world No 4 was ground into the court's red clay 3-6, 0-6 in just 56 minutes by Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, the tournament's youngest player.
Youzhny, who won two qualifying matches to reach the 64-strong main draw, barely put a foot wrong in the opening match.
Kiefer, by contrast, looked out of sorts and hit 27 unforced errors.
REUTERS
Ecuadorian claycourter Nicolas Lapentti and Argentine Mariano Puerta made early exits.
Lapentti retired from his opening match with an ankle injury while trailing Spanish qualifier Galo Blanco 7-5 3-2 while Puerta pulled out of his match with Hicham Arazi at 1-0 down with a stomach injury.
Top seeds Marat Safin and Gustavo Kuerten were given a rest today and will open their campaigns tomorrow.
Tennis: Pioline sheds deficiencies to trounce Prinosil at Monaco
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