Tennis: Kuerten hits form on and off the court

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Nice guys can win, as Gustavo Kuerten showed on and off the court today.

On it, he won over his Brazilian supporters - and plenty of others - with his no-frills 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win over Dutch qualifier Martin Verkerk.

Off it, after a straight-shooting media wrap-up at which he patiently answered all questions, "Guga" informally joined his fans. They loved him.

"I'm finding myself again," said Kuerten after his first singles outing in "60 or 70 days". Verkerk wished he hadn't.

Kuerten said playing doubles on the opening day of the Heineken Open helped build his confidence.

"Winning makes you happy, too. I'm sure tomorrow [A second-round match against Michael Russell] I'll play much better."

Asked about his ongoing rehabilitation, former world No 1 Kuerten said: "Everything is fine. The more I play, the better I feel."

The injury? "No problem. I'm back to where I was. I feel a bit better, a little bit stronger every week."

It was not always pretty on court, but Kuerten was never in danger.

Sure, there were unforced errors but just as many touches of almost brilliance from a player who is still looking to find his best game.

He trailed Verkerk on aces 10 (five in each set) to eight, but restricted himself to just one double fault in each set while the Dutchman managed half a dozen.

With a lowly first-serve percentage - 28 in the second set and 41 overall - Verkerk had no business even thinking he could compete.

The first set was a mixture as they progressed to a tiebreak after trading early service breaks. Winning three points straight after Verkerk had started the tiebreaker with an ace, Kuerten ended the 53-minute set at 7-6 (7-5).

But there was no such drama in the 35-minute second set, with few dropped points and just the one break - in the 10th, and last, game as Kuerten cashed in.

Kuerten and Russell's only previous meeting, in the fourth round of the 2001 French Open, was a classic.

Kuerten eventually won the tense five-setter, coming from behind to win 3-6 4-6 7-6 6-3 6-1.

He went on to win the tournament - the third of his three triumphs at Roland Garros.

After beating Russell, Kuerten drew a big heart with his racket on the clay court - something he repeated a few days later when he won the title.

You remember that match, Kuerten was asked?

"No," he said laughing. More seriously, he added: "I've seen that drama over and over. For sure, it is something very special. It is one match I'll never forget."

Kuerten had plenty of advice today from a crowd "telling me what to do".

He enjoyed that, returning the favour by sharing his energy with the crowd resplendent in yellow Brazilian shirts and flags. "It's nice to share your emotions."

New Zealand No 1 Mark Nielsen could have done with the same level of support. He tried valiantly against in-form Austrian Stefan Koubeck in his attempt to repeat last year's first-round success.

Broken early, Nielsen did get back to 3-3 but little further against the current world No 1 after his victory in last week's Qatar Open in Doha.

Koubeck, in the end, was too steady against Nielsen, who served untimely double faults, going out 6-3 6-2.

Sixth-seed Jan-Michael Gambill (US) won through comfortably, with a 6-1 6-3 win over unseeded Swiss Michel Kratochvil.

In doubles action, unseeded Argentines David Nalbandian and Lucas Arnold came from a set down to beat Slovak Dominik Hrbaty and his Czech Republic partner Radek Stepanek 4-6 6-1 7-5.

Later, New Zealanders Simon Rea and Jacob Olsen bowed out to South Americans Jose Acasuso and Fernando Gonzalez in a decent first-round scrap.

After winning the first set 6-4 - Olsen broken in his first service game - they traded games throughout the second to force the tiebreaker.

At 6-5 (in the tiebreak) Rea served for the set but could not finish it off, allowing the Argentine/Chile combo to win three straight points and a place in the second round.

New Zealand's remaining interest is in the late match tonight, when Nielsen and Alistair Hunt square off against second-seeded South Africans David Adams and Robbie Koenig.