Rusedski earns his revenge over Zabaleta

Greg Rusedski gained revenge over Mariano Zabaleta for the defeat which knocked him out of last summer's US Open with a three-set victory in the Heineken Open here yesterday. Rusedski, who is intent on getting matches under his belt before next week's Australian Open in Melbourne, prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 against the Argentinian to gain a place in the second round.

Zabaleta beat the British No 2 in the round of 32 at Flushing Meadows and went on to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final. After dropping the first set, he took command in the second, but lost the initiative at the beginning of the third, double-faulting to give Rusedski a 2-0 lead.

Rusedski, who is now 28 and looking to re-establish himself as one of the top players in the world, seized a 3-0 lead and rode that momentum to victory. The match was an encouraging one for Rusedski, who served 15 aces – including four in a row to close out the match.

"I think I played quite well," he said. "I'm pleased to get through. He's a tough player, very gutsy. I lost to him in the third round at US Open, but today I was happy with my serve and volley."

Rusedski was due to play Michel Tabara, of the Czech Republic, in the second round yoday. Tabara beat Andre Sa, of Brazil, 7-5, 6-2. "It will be a good test," Rusedski said. "He takes the ball early and hits good passing shots so I'll have to have a good serving game."

The British campaign for Melbourne seems in good shape after Tim Henman's victory at the Australian Hardcourt Championships in Adelaide. The British No 3, Martin Lee, has given it an extra boost by qualifying automatically. Lee's current world ranking of 103 is enough to get him into the main draw, only the second time in his career that he has not had either to play qualifiers or rely on a wild card.

Marat Safin, the top seed here, dropped a set to Michael Chang before advancing to the second round. The 21-year-old Russian conceded the first set before gaining control of his match and winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Two seeds went out, Jan-Michael Gambill losing 6-0, 7-6 to Francesco Clavet and Dominik Hrbaty going down 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to Gilles Elseneer.

In Sydney, Paradorn Srichaphan, of Thailand, pulled off the new year's biggest upset when he beat the world No 6, Sebastien Grosjean, 6-3, 6-4 at the adidas International. Paradorn, who finished last year 112th in the ATP Champions Race, produced the form that helped him reach the Indian Open final last week, to knock out the top seed out of another Australian Open warm-up event.

Paradorn, whose best-ever win was beating the then world No 3, Magnus Norman of Sweden, in Singapore in 1999, was given a wild card into next week's Australian Open after winning the Asian Championship in December. He only gained acceptance into the field for Sydney after reaching the final in Madras.

In the women's event, Martina Hingis opened her 2002 campaign in efficient fashion, thrashing the American doubles specialist Lisa Raymond 6-1, 6-1. The former world No 1 was playing her first competitive match since undergoing ankle surgery in October and said that she felt like her career was starting again after her longest break in seven years on the circuit.

"I felt a little nervous out there and didn't really know what to expect," said the Swiss 21-year-old after claiming victory in 46 minutes. "But it's always nice to come back to a place where you have had success in the past. It gives you a little extra kick."

The women's world No 1, Lindsay Davenport, will miss the Australian Open because of injury. The American, who won the title in Melbourne two years ago, has failed to shake off a persistent knee problem.