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It was another scorcher in Toronto, with temperatures again in the low 30s. The humidity was not as high as yesterday, so conditions were more a bit bearable. Today we look in detail at Gustavo Kuerten?s recurring hip problems, as well a courageous and successful battle by the jet-lagged Juan Carlos Ferrero.

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Andrei Pavel def. Gustavo Kuerten, 7-5, ret. (hip pain)
1st round
Stadium
Previous head-to-head: Kuerten leads 6-0

Defending TMS - Canada champion Andrei Pavel got the defence of his title off to the right foot, as he finally beat Gustavo Kuerten for the first time in seven tries. Not, as the saying goes, as he would have wanted to, as the three-time French Open champion from Brazil retired with hip pain after losing the first set.

A flag-waving band of about 20 or so Brazilian supporters chanted and sang throughout the warm-up. Once the match started, however, ?Guga? gave them little to cheer about. Misfiring badly on his ground strokes and serving below his usual speed standard, Kuerten lost his opening game on his service. The Brazilian came close to being broken a second time, but crawled out of a 0-3, 15-40 hole on the strength of his best forehands of the match so far.

Pavel kept up the pressure, however, taking the net to test Kuerten?s shaky passing shots, and serving with surprising pop. The Romanian was never troubled on his service games until he served for the set at 5-4. Andrei committed a few forehand errors and faced his first break point. The chance was converted by Kuerten thanks to one of his best baseline points, ending with the scrambling Pavel sending a defensive lob long, levelling the score at 5-5

But Guga could not keep the momentum going, and promptly lost serve in the following game. Kuerten fought off two break points, and appeared to have fought off a third with an ace, but the serve was called out. The Brazilian disputed the call, and Pavel admitted after the match, ?I thought he aced me, I was lucky to get that call.? On the second serve Pavel delivered a crushing return, forcing a Kuerten error to take a 6-5 lead. Serving for the set, Pavel made no mistake, holding at love.

At the changeover, trainer Bill Norris came out to attend to Kuerten?s hip. Quite quickly, Guga made the decision to retire. The fans groaned at umpire Romano Grillotti?s announcement. One disgruntled female fan said on her way out of the stadium, ?That?s terrible. We should have booed him!?

The retirement announcement had come as a surprise. Although Kuerten was not on top of his game, he showed no overt sign of discomfort in the first set and appeared to be moving normally. Pavel was as surprised as anyone by the turn of events. ?I didn?t see anything that bothers him,? said the Romanian. ?Of course, it?s really hot and you can?t move so fast, so I didn?t know that he was really hurt.?

Kuerten?s retirement notwithstanding, one had to be impressed with the quality of tennis Pavel displayed. The defending champion played precise, aggressive tennis. Most impressively, he was serving with greater speed than we are accustomed to seeing from him: he was consistently topping the 210 km/h mark, and even served a 217 km/h ace. Pavel himself seemed amazed and bemused by some of the speed numbers that were flashing on the board. ?I was wondering what?s happening,? he said with a grin after the match. ?Superman comes out!? Pavel asked ATP Communications guru Greg Sharko, ?Is it a new radar?? When told that there was indeed a new radar device, Pavel exclaimed, ?There?s a new radar, so you see, that?s why! Don?t laugh,? the jocular Romanian scolded the laughing reporters.

As you might suspect, Kuerten?s press conference was considerably less jolly. The Brazilian said that the pounding of the hard courts the past two weeks have aggravated his hip pain, and that the problem grew worse as the set went on. ?It was easy to see that at the end of the set I couldn?t move myself any more just to catch the balls that were a few feet away. My leg was not responding to my reactions any more." Although Kuerten is hoping that five days' rest will allow him to play in Cincinnati nex t week, he has already abandoned any hope for outstanding results this year. ?I think this year is for practice: be healthy again and try to get strong.?

Our winner Pavel is lodged in a treacherous little corner at the bottom of the draw, and his life doesn?t get any easier. Tomorrow the 2001 Canadian champ must face the fellow who won here the previous year, second seed Marat Safin. Safin looked sharp this afternoon in dispatching Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-4, 6-3. ?He?s a powerful player,? said the loquacious Pavel when asked to preview the encounter. ?I hope that he is not going to serve bombs, or not all the bombs are going to go into the court.?

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Juan Carlos Ferrero (8) def. Thomas Enqvist, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 7-5
1st round
Court One
Previous head-to-head: Tied 1-1

With all due respect to Pete Sampras and Wayne Ferreira, who waged a three-set barnburner of their on the stadium court this evening (won by Sampras, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4), this was our match of the day. For 2 hours and 51 minutes a large court one crowd was held in suspense by a match filled with twists, turns, and both brilliant and nervous play by both. Ferrero saved a match point before going on to win the thriller. The Spaniard?s effort was particularly commendable given that he was in Austria just two day s ago, playing a clay court final. Some of his peers could learn a lesson from the youngster?s professionalism.

This match featured countless blazing, up-tempo rallies. Sometimes Enqvist?s heavier weight of shot prevailed, while other times Ferrero?s foot speed and sudden, rapid-fire baseline attacks were decisive.

The story of the first set was the Swede?s fine play to gain leads, and his inability to hold them. Thomas had a 3-1 lead that evaporated, and he was unable to conserve a 4-2 advantage in the tie-break. Usually, double faults or errant backhands were to blame.

It looked like more of the same in the second set, as Enqvist was unable to serve out the set at 5-4. They went to another tie-break and, you guessed it, Enqvist lost a 4-2 lead through errant groundstrokes. But Ferrero opened the door again at 4-4, shanking a forehand long. This time Thomas?s nerves did not fail him: he nailed a pair of forehand winners to close out the set. The warriors had exchanged 7-6 sets, we headed to the decider.

Ferrero drew first blood with a break in game 3, a three-deuce game that featured three Enqvist double faults. The Spanish speedster looked to be in cruise control at 4-3, 40-15, but you suspected nothing would easily in this match! Enqvist fought back to deuce, and converted on his second break point with a slashing backhand winner.

After an easy Enqvist hold, Ferrero was again in trouble serving at 4-5. At deuce, a wild point ensued, with both players scrambling and retrieving all over the court, and Enqvist finally won it with a running crosscourt forehand. Match point for Enqvist: Ferrero plays a huge point, risking a sharply angled forehand that the Swede barely reaches, but cannot return over the net. Enqvist falls to his back and agonizes. Finally Ferrero holds with a service winner, and it?s 5-5.

More dramatics! 5-5, 40-30: Enqvist makes a forehand error, followed by a deafening Swedish scream. Enqvist wastes two more game points, one on a bricked backhand volley, and another on a backhand error. Ferrero is returning well, making the Swede work hard for every point. Finally the Spaniard earns a break point: Enqvist gets Ferrero running wide and has an open court putaway on his racquet, but drives it into the net. Thomas moans at the succession of wasted opportunities.

So it?s 6-5, Ferrero serving for the match. Enqvist?s hard deep returns give the Spanish ?Mosquito? trouble, and quickly he goes down 0-40. Break point #1: Enqvist misfires with a backhand. Break point #2: Ferrero aces Enqvist with a perfectly placed wide serve. Break point #3: An Enqvist crosscourt forehand ticks the tape and lands out of play. Deuce: Enqvist has a good look at a first serve return, but pulls the forehand out. Match point #1 for Ferrero: ace down the middle!

The crowd roars and elated Ferrero gives a double fist pump with an accompanying ?VAMOS!? to celebrate a wild and woolly 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 7-5 triumph. And Enqvist slumps to his chair, surely meditating about the many chances he let slip away in this marathon.

It will be interesting to see how much Ferrero has left in the tank for tomorrow?s second-rounder against Austria?s Stefan Koubek. Koubek had to struggle for a long time in the hot sun as well today, grinding out a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 win over the rising young Chilean Fernando González.

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Toronto Tidbits

Rampant Moyá on a roll

The hottest player on tour, Carlos Moyá, advanced with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over the king of the Gallic shrug, Julien Boutter (pictured at right, Moyá serving to Boutter). Moyá has been playing often and well, winning two tournaments and reaching the semis on European clay the last three weeks. The Spaniard had few problems with the adjustment to hard courts today, as he served well (10 aces, and won 89 percent of his first serve points) and displayed a lethal forehand to down his hard-hitting, risk-taking opponent.

The man from Mallorca admitted last week that he was feeling the fatigue of his busy schedule, and was surely glad to end the match in straight sets under the hot sun. If the former number one can keep his energy level up, he could be a danger man this week. Next up for Carlos is another former number one, Marcelo Ríos. An intriguing matchup, indeed.

Costa collapses, top quarter opens up

The only seed to lose today was French Open champion Albert Costa, the 6th seed, who showed poorly in a 6-3, 6-1 loss to qualifier Vincent Spadea.

Costa was in the top quarter of the draw, which has been the quarter most depleted by first round upsets. With Lleyton Hewitt also ousted from this quarter, Jiri Novak (14) and Sébastien Grosjean (11) are the only seeds left in that bracket.

On the other side of the coin, the second quarter is the only bracket with all its seeds still alive and kicking: Tim Henman (4), Juan Carlos Ferrero (8), Andy Roddick (12) and David Nalbandian (15).

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Quotable quotes

Marat Safin?s 16-year-old sister Dinara Safina won her first WTA title last week in Sopot. This is one more title than Marat has won this year! Safin has decided that the best thing he can do to help advance Dinara?s career is to leave her alone. ?You cannot compare women?s tennis to the men?s tennis. It?s a completely different mentality, so it?s a different story. So I don?t think she has to listen to me. She should listen to her coach who has been involved for a long time in women?s tennis, not to me.?