The tournament suffered its first and only withdrawal today when Mark Philippoussis bowed out with ?viral flu?. The Wimbledon runner-up apparently made the trip yesterday to Montreal from Los Angeles, where he was a losing semifinalist three days ago, but was already sick when he showed up. One of the few not caught by surprise by the announcement was countryman Lleyton Hewitt. ?I flew over with him from Los Angeles,? said Hewitt. ?He was struggling on the plane.?

The vacated place in the draw was assumed by lucky loser Nicolás Massú. The Chilean failed to cash in on the opportunity, losing to Max Mirnyi, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), this evening.

While Philippoussis was the only withdrawal, technically speaking, three other standouts might as well have withdrawn, as they failed to make it through their opening round match.

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(Q)Wayne Black def. Wayne Ferreira, 6-4, 2-1, ret.
Feliciano Lopez def. (7)Guillermo Coria, 6-3, ret.
Tim Henman def. (14)Fernando Gonzalez, 6-2, ret.

Three of the six finalists in last week?s tournaments turned up in Montreal weary and hobbling, putting a bit of a damper on today?s action. Unable to complete their first round matches were Los Angeles champion Wayne Ferreira (groin and right hip), Sopot titlist Guillermo Coria (right hamstring), and Washington finalist Fernando Gonzalez (right kneee).

Ferreira?s retirement was the least surprising, since the South African veteran played injured in Los Angeles. In Coria?s case, little was expected of him here because he came to Montreal straight off a successful but gruelling stretch of three clay court titles in three weeks in Europe. The biggest disappointment had to be the retirement of the powerful, crowd-pleasing González (pictured at right).

Tim Henman had defeated González 6-3, 6-4 in the Washington final on Sunday, and the rematch figured to be one of the most appetizing encounters on today?s programme. While Henman looked fresh and healthy, it was clear from the start that the week in the U.S. capital had left its traces on the Chilean. González came out with a brace just under his right knee, and even in the warm-up he did not appear to be moving comfortably.

Serving at 2-3, the big Chilean?s knee buckled, and he immediately sought an injury time out during which time a trainer worked on the region just beneath his knee. Gonzalez attempted to continue, but did not win another game. After the first set he threw in the proverbial towel, giving Henman a 6-2, retired triumph.

Henman told the press that he had not noticed any sign of a Gonzalez knee problem in their Washington final two days ago. ?He had just had a long match with Agassi the day before. He got some help from the trainer, but it was for his lower back. But I know he has had knee problems in the past.? Indeed, Fernando has a recent history of knee tendonitis. Tim added, ?Certainly from my point of view you?ll take what you can get.?

Despite the fact that the other finalists from last week seem to be dropping like flies, Henman says he feels ?pretty much 100% now.? And he knows he had better be primed for his second round opponent, unseeded David Nalbandian. The Argentine knocked Henman out of the Masters Series Canada in Toronto last season, a defeat Henman avenged this year in the Wimbledon round of sixteen. ?He plays well on any surface,? recognized ?Gentleman Tim?, ?and I?ve had really difficult matches against him every time I?ve played him.?

Nikolay Davydenko def. (WC)Frank Dancevic, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3
First round
Court 1
Previous head-to-head: Dancevic leads 1-0

Last year in Washington, a 17 year old Canadian junior named Frank Dancevic scored the first win of his young ATP career, surprising Russia?s Nikolay Davydenko in three sets. Now 18 and playing the pros full time, the youngster from Niagara Falls once again gave Davydenko all he could handle, but the Russian evened the score in another tight three-setter.

With all due respect to last night?s hero Simon Larose, Dancevic, the 2001 Wimbledon junior doubles champion alongside Giovanni Lapentti, is the best prospect produced by the Great White North since the Greg Rusedski / Sébastien Lareau / Daniel Nestor trio emerged in the early 1990s. The 6?2? teenager has a strong serve and a balanced, versatile game. Today his lack of experience and a few rough edges showed, and the slender, smooth stroking Davydenko came back from a break down in the third set to triumph.

Dancevic started strong, and served for the first set at 5-3. But the Canadian -- ?a little bit tentative?, in his words -- failed to serve it out. The blond Russian had picked up his game considerably since the opening games, keeping the Canadian on the defensive with his flat, penetrating strokes, and scoring often with his reliable down-the-line backhand. Davydenko continued his strong play through the first set tie-break, winning it 7-3 to draw first blood.

The calm Canadian teen hung tough. He notched the only break of the second set at 4-4, when the Russian committed a couple of costly errors from his less reliable forehand side. Dancevic, serving again for the set, made no mistake this time, holding at love to level the match.

Davydenko chose to take a bathroom break prior to the deciding set. During this time Dancevic, perhaps inspired by Paradorn Srichaphan?s well known custom, changed to a red shirt. The pause was not very beneficial to Davydenko initially, as the Russian was broken in the first game. Dancevic was now stepping into his shots with authority, and looked determined to score a repeat win over Davydenko. But the Russian had not said his last word. Taking more chances from the baseline and breaking up n eutral rallies with winners, he broke back to even the score, 3-3. ?I was serving into the sun,? said Frank, ?and it was getting hot and humid. It was a couple of points here and there that made the difference.?

Dancevic earned a break point in the following game, but Davydenko fought it off with a rare serve-volley point that he finished with an overhead. The Russian again got in trouble serving for the match at 5-3. He had to fight off three break points, saving the first two with an ace and a service winner. On the third, Dancevic ran down a drop volley and appeared to arrive in time to hit a cross-court reply, but he failed to lift the shot over the net. The pro-Dancevic crowd groaned. That was the Canadi an?s last chance. After four deuces, Davydenko finally converted his second match point to seal the hard-earned win.

?If I went for my shots a little more, that could have made the difference,? noted Dancevic. ?He played solid and didn?t make many errors. But I made him earn his money.?

Next up for Davydenko is a much stiffer challenge: world number one Andre Agassi.

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Montreal Morsels

Gaudio gives Federer a fright

In light of the upsets and injuries we have had here so far, the heart of tournament director Eugène Lapierre had to have been in his mouth when popular Wimbledon champion Roger Federer trailed Gaston Gaudio 2-4, 0-40 in the third set this afternoon. A large part of the tournament?s publicity efforts have centred on the Swiss star, who in addition to being a great player and a likeable chap has the added bonus for the Montreal market of speaking excellent French. Thankfully for Lapierre?s sanity, Federer did not ?bag? the match. Instead he pulled himself out of the hole by playing his best tennis of the day. Federer strung together a baseline winner, serve-and-backhand-volley, service winner, big forehand and service winner to save the game and probably the match, to the great delight of the partisan crowd. Roger finally won the marathon match over the tenacious and solid Gaudio with a break of serve at 6-5, converting his first match point by coming in behind a backhand and putting away a vintage backhand volley.

?I was in great difficulty today,? acknowledged Federer, who made a point of thanking the fans for their support in his on-court interview. ?The match was slipping away. I got lucky.? Roger?s next challenge in a tough draw is the Montreal native and now proud Brit, Greg Rusedski, who is as dangerous an attacker as Gaudio is from the baseline. Federer?s preview: ?He will go to the net and the points will be short, a bit like Wimbledon. But I think that suits me.?

Wide open second quarter

In addition to González and Coria, a third seed went out today. Sjeng Schalken (12) was blown away by Mariano Zabaleta, 6-1, 6-1. In all, five of the sixteen seeds missed their second round appointments. In a quirk of fate, all five were in the top half of the draw, where Andre Agassi is now the heavy favourite to reach the final. More strangely, four of them were in the second quarter, which assures us an unseeded semifinalist. Even so, this seedless quarter is still interesting enou gh. It contains some well-known names (such as David Nalbandian, Tim Henman, Arnaud Clément), as well as some up-and-comers in search of a breakthrough (Paul-Henri Mathieu, Feliciano López, Karol Beck).

Underdogs bite back

O Canada, O Rarity! Usually the Canadian wild cards are gone by the second round, but this year two of them won their first round match. They were Gustavo Kuerten?s executioner from last night, Simon Larose, and 31-year-old doubles specialist Daniel Nestor, who toppled Robby Ginepri in the completion of a suspended match from Monday.

Another successful underdog was the little Zimbabwean qualifier Wayne Black, who only snuck into ?qualies? as an alternate because of an injury to Paul Goldstein. Today Black got lucky for a second time when Ferreira?s injury allowed him to advance to the second round, where he will face 16th seed Tommy Robredo.

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Quotable quotes

The slowed-down conditions this year (resurfaced court and heavier balls) are a hot topic of conversation among the players. Fourth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, who looked sharp in a 6-4 6-4 win over Cyril Saulnier, likes it that way. ?You know, two years ago I did quarterfinals here when it was faster than it is. I hope to do a great tournament again and do more than the quarterfinals,? said the ever-confident Spaniard. Andy Roddick, after recovering from a slow start to subdue Xavier Maliss e, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, seemed less thrilled. ?Hopefully we?ll get around to some fast courts sometime this summer,? said Roddick, who also found Washington to be slow last week. Roddick recognized that the conditions may work in favour of his next opponent, baseliner Juan Ignacio Chela, but added, ?I?ll just have to deal with it.?

We may see another Dancevic on the pro circuit in a few years. Frank Dancevic?s little sister Monika also covets a professional career. Frank gave us a scouting report: ?She?s young, she?s 15. She?s playing juniors now and grinding her way through, also. She?s one of the top Canadian girls. Looking forward to seeing her future.? We saw Monika Dancevic, a tall, versatile player much like her big brother, in a $10,000 pro tournament earlier this year and can vouch for her potential.