Top seeds out of Indian Open

Magnus Norman: Shocking start to 2001

The Indian Open lost its top two seeds on Tuesday when Swede Magnus Norman and Argentina's Franco Squillari crashed out in the first round.

American teenager Taylor Dent upset world number four Norman 6-3 7-6 in 91 minutes and Russian Michael Youzhny beat Squillari 6-7 6-1 6-2 in a 111-minute clash.

Dent, 19, was thrilled with the biggest win of his career.

"I think he was not prepared for me. This is a great start to the new year," said the big-serving wild card entrant.

"I did not play my best tennis," said Norman. "It takes a lot to beat me. This guy is good."

Third seed Cedric Pioline had a close shave in his first match.

The 31-year-old Frenchman overcame a spirited challenge from Spain's Galo Blanco in front of a screaming centre court crowd at the Nungambakkam stadium.

Pioline, 16th in the 2000 ATP Champions' Race, won 3-6 6-3 7-6 in 104 minutes.

Blanco served well in the initial stages and pulled off three games in a row to close out the first set in half an hour.

But Pioline took charge in the second with an array of baseline winners.

Pioline will next play Haiti's 36-year-old Ronald Agenor, who beat Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-2.

Defending champion and fifth seed Jerome Golmard of France won a hard-fought match against Switzerland's George Bastl 7-5 6-7 6-1.

Sixth seed Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden held off a first-set charge from Swiss Michel Kratochvil to win 7-6 6-3.

Spain's Tommy Robredo disappointed local fans by beating India's top player Leander Paes 7-6 6-0.

Peter Wessels of the Netherlands beat Lionel Roux of Fran5 6-1, while Denmark's Kristian Pless beat Zimbabwe's Wayne Black 6-2 7-5.

Qatar Open Championship

Top seed and world number five Yevgeny Kafelnikov, of Russia, started his campaign in the $1m Qatar Open Championship on a confident note, trouncing Spain's Francisco Clavet 6-2 6-2 on Tuesday.

Chilean Marcelo Rios survived a mid-match crisis to beat Yugoslav qualifier Nenad Zimonjic 6-4 3-6 6-1.

Third seed Sjeng Schalken, of the Netherlands, defeated Karim Alami of Morocco 6-1 6-3 and number five Marc Rosset, of Switzerland, ended the hopes of local man Sultan Khalfan with an emphatic 6-3 6-2 victory.