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Tuesday, July 22
 
Portas tops Ulihrach at Generali Open

Associated Press

KITZBUHEL, Austria -- Bohdan Ulihrach played his first match since his two-year drug ban was overturned, losing to Spain's Albert Portas 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday at the Generali Open.

Also out was defending champion Alex Corretja, upset 6-4, 6-4 by Austria's Werner Eschauer, who hadn't won a match on tour this year.

Ulihrach was barred for two years in May after testing positive to the banned steroid nandrolone at Moscow last October. The ATP reversed the ban this month after it learned tablets distributed by its trainers could have been contaminated with the steroid.

Corretja, the Generali champion in 2000 and 2002, fell to his 12th loss in 17 matches since mid-April. The 12th-seeded Spaniard had 23 unforced errors and battled with his serve.

"This year has been pretty bad for me so far, but that's tennis -- sometimes you're up and then down again," Corretja said.

Eschauer used two of his four break points, one in each set, to seal his victory.

"I was very nervous,'' Eschauer said. "It was very hot and I had to battle with the conditions at the beginning."

In second-round matches, Paul-Henri Mathieu of France upset third-seeded Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and fifth-seeded Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco beat Michael Kratochvil of Switzerland 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-6 (3).

Ninth-seeded Mariano Zabaleta, winner of this month's Swedish Open, advanced to the third round after beating Romania's Victor Hanescu 6-2, 7-5.

Also, Nicolas Massu beat Austria's Stefan Koubek 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to reach the second round. Massu won the Dutch Open on Sunday for his first title of the season.

"I was a little bit tired before the match, but my self-confidence has helped me," said the Chilean, who will next play three-time Generali champion Albert Costa, who is seeded fourth.




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