Sunrise, Florida, March 14, 2007- First round action today saw fan favorite Gustavo Kuerten eliminated by top Italian Andreas Seppi; and defending champion No. 1 seed Dmitry Tursunov win easily over Belgian qualifier Kristof Vliegen.   French sensation No. 5 seed Gael Monfils took out American hopeful Jesse Levine; but No. 2 seed Dominik Hrbaty and No. 4 seed Florian Mayer are out early.   In the evening singles match, No. 6 seed Chilean Nicolas Massu ousted qualifier Ivan Miranda of Peru.

In today's first match, Gael Monfils vs. Jesse Levine - Monfils was not at all happy with his performance, though he won in two tiebreak sets 7-6(4), 7-6(3).   "I think I played very, very bad," he said.   My technique was very confused and I cannot make the shot I want so it was very bad match for me."  

Monfils also said he didn't like the windy conditions - but he knows that it'll be windy in Miami so he's glad to be getting acclimated to the South Florida weather - and have good results at the BMW.   "Because you get the strong player for this challenger, like maybe everybody lost in first or second round [in Indian Wells] come here so it's very strong, it's like a very good professional tournament, play good matches and good preparation, perfect. I keep going, practice a lot, maybe be strong here and maybe in the Sony Ericsson, and then maybe on the clay courts I will be ready."  

Looking for a positive in his performance today, Monfils pointed out that at Indian Wells he lost after blowing three match points - and today he won on his first match point.  

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In today's second stadium court match, Andreas Seppi found himself face-to-face with one of his own tennis idols - Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten.   But he didn't let the occasion overwhelm him.    "I never had played him, I just saw him always on TV when I was like 15 or 16 in Roland Garros," Seppi said.   "So to play him that's special, and to beat him better.   He's one of the greatest players, he was number one in the world and on clay maybe the best ever because he won 3 times Paris and that was amazing so it was perfect for me to play him here and it was a good win."  

In fact Seppi won in straight sets, 7-6(1), 6-4.   "I think the service was pretty good, I just broke him once on the second set and that was the key because normally all the games was even, so it was pretty tough.   Maybe from the baseline I was a little bit more aggressive and that's why I got important break in the second set."

Looking forward to the rest of the tournament, Seppi isn't making any predictions. "It's just the first round so there are so many players still in the draw.   Last year Tursunov won, he is a favorite but there are so many favorites, [Juan Martin] del potro, [Gael] Monfils - maybe it's better to talk in two more days."

Kuerten has suffered a string of injuries in the past two years, the most serious a hip problem which required surgery and a lengthy recovery.   He's played just a handful of matches in the past few months, and the lack of power in his strokes today was apparent.

For Kuerten, the early losses in both doubles and singles was a disappointment, but he sounded philosophical - saying the important thing for his recovery is to test himself on the court. "I've been playing better.   Here I think I did not play as well as I played the weeks before but that's why I need some more tournaments to establish myself, be more sure and consistent so that's probably the goal for this year, to get myself the confidence again that I will be playing back to back tournaments."

"I wish I could advance more in the tournament, I only play two matches here but I think it is important for me now to get some matches going, get my rhythm back again.   So that was the idea coming here, the field is very strong so I knew I would play some good players.   So for me it's good for me to play some doubles and then some singles today, unfortunately I couldn't win some more matches to get myself in better shape but it was good to come here."

Looking forward, and speaking about the current crop of clay court experts - Kuerten sounded less than definitive about his chances.   "I think it depends how far I can go on my way back, if I manage to play the same way again, I have some good chance with the roads in front of me too - but as far as I don't have everything sure in my mind I think that's going to be the key for me to get all set together, especially in the mental part of the game, to be 100% sure I can be there."

One thing Kuerten was sure about was the positive experience he had in his short sojourn at the BMWTC.   "As far as the toughest challenger all year long, the players that play here, probably 5 or 10 guys here have been around top 20 in the world, so it's a great tournament for me.   It's only two days I've been here but it seems like the crowd appreciate it too, especially at night, it's a nice, warm central court there so it's fun to be around and I hope the tournament keeps going, you know it's a pleasure for me to be here."

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Unseeded and 93-ranked Potito Starace of Italy had a big day on court, taking out No. 2 seed Dominik Hrbaty in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-2.

"It was a good match today," Starace said.   "I was aggressive, it was difficult to play today, the weather was windy.   We play a good first set and I start to play very good the second set.   And it was 5-0 and then he play two very good games, I lost two games and then I break one more time to 5-2 and then I won the match. I try to have more concentrate because he is a very good player and I think my strategy was a good serve, I served very well today and I tried to play more slice with my backhand."

It was the second time the two had met, but the first on a hard court.   On the clay at Barcelona in 2005, Hrbaty had handed Starace a 6-3, 6-2 defeat.   Starace said today's payback built some self-belief; especially since, in his words, "...it's the best challenger in the world.   I lost first round qualies at Indian wells, but now I feel better, I have more confidence, I think I can play my best tennis here because I play a good match today and we'll see tomorrow.   Tomorrow will be a tough match, so I try to play like I play today.   I think I feel good, I feel strong with my arms, with my legs, so I want to try to go to the finals, semi finals here."

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No. 1 seed Dmitry Tursunov, who has been to the finals of this challenger twice - and won twice - is off to another strong start in 2007, posting a 6-3, 6-3 win over qualifier Kristof Vliegen of Belgium.  

He made it look easy, but Tursunov wasn't willing to concede that it really was.   "It's hard to say it wasn't difficult, because there were a few key points I played well - and had I not won them maybe I would have had more problems. I think the reason why it might have been easier for me than I expected it to be is I played the important points well and when I came out I broke him right away so I had a chance at getting up early and beating him up so he never really had a chance to get into the match and the couple of times that he did have an opportunity to get into the match I played pretty well on certain points and was able to keep that edge."

Last year, after winning Sunrise (defeating Alberto Martin in the final), Tursunov had his best Miami run ever, losing in the fourth round to eventual champion Roger Federer.   He feels the preparation he had at the BMW made a difference. "Definitely yeah, it didn't hurt.   I'm the type of player who plays better with, the more matches I win the more confidence I gain and I think most players are similar to that. I think getting here earlier and getting used to the weather, most of the time it's hot so it's good to prepare for Miami with this weather and it's a very difficult tournament, because it's between Indian Wells and Miami so a lot of top players who for some reason lose in Indian Wells play here - so it's good preparation, you're playing against good players and in the same time zone.   I don't like the wind but there's not much you can do, so it's good to get the feeling of Miami which is 20 minutes away."

"I think it's getting better, this event's getting better every year, but the one thing I think, the main difference from last year is the draw is so much tougher, the cutoffs are, I mean a lot of ATP tournaments would envy that draw, so it's a lot of pressure for me or for anybody else to perform here because you're not going to have any easy rounds here."

In the final singles match on Wednesday, Nicolas Massu sailed through his first round match, taking out Peruvian qualifier Ivan Miranda in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.

Outer court matches today:

Danai Udomchoke (THA) d. Florian Mayer (GER) 6-3, 6-0

This was a real struggle for Mayer. Hobbled with his left ankle, the favorite to win this match went down in a flurry. He called the trainer in the first set and valiantly pushed through his pain to finish the match. Udomchoke showed resiliance and focus in winning this match.

Chris Guccione (AUS) d. Daniele Bracciali (ITA) 7-6(5), 6-1

Guccione's overwhelming serve was the decider in this match. Too boot he came in of the serve for some nicely placed volleys and put away shots. Bracciali on the other hand struggled with his serve in part of the first and most of the second set. For awhile in the first set it was neck and neck until Bracciali lost his focus and went down in a heap.

Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) d. Misha Zverev 6-4, 6-4

Kunitsyn the more senior of the two contestants showed his experience and sturdiness with a straight set victory here. Zverev came through two qualifying matches this week and may have been a a little weary against the more mature Kunitsyn. Of Note: Luis Horna withdrew from this match against Kunitsyn and a lucky loser in Zverev showed his grit to fight for the match.

Sergio Roitman (ARG) d. Simone Bolelli (ITA) 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4)  

This matchup was sort of like the story of David and Goliath. David (Bolelli) versus Goliath (Roitman), the more experienced ATP Player came through a tough first set loss to post consecutive tiebreak victories. The experience and match play showed with respect to the Roitman game. Backhand to Backhand, Forehand to Forehand - each struggle eclipsing the next - then a down the line winner. Bolelli is learning his chops in new and fantastic ways here at the BMW Tennis Championships.

Juan Martin DEL POTRO (ARG) d. Juan Monaco (ARG) 6-1, 6-2

This was a rather handy win for DEL POTRO, who showed the most recent winner of Buenos Aires how to get it done on hard courts. Both from Argentina, DEL POTRO takes home bragging rights - for the BMW Tennis Championships.

Dusan Vemic (SRB) d. Gilles Muller (LUX) 6-4, 6-2

Muller has struggled as of late and their was no exception to that rule in this contest. A Straight set victory is what Vemic takes to the bank after overcoming early jitters against a venerable and competent opponent in Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

Results for Wednesday, March 14: