Monte Carlo misery for Hewitt

Carlos Moya is a clay-court specialist

Click here for Tuesday's results from Monte Carlo

Number one seed Lleyton Hewitt suffered a shock defeat in the opening round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

The world number one was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Spain's Carlos Moya, a clay-court specialist and former French Open champion.

It is somewhere where I always feel I can do well, so I am especially pleased

Carlos Moya

The Australian, playing only his fifth tournament of the year after recovering from a bout of chicken pox, was totally out-foxed by the Spaniard, himself a former world number one.

After early exchanges of serve Moya, French Open champion in 1998, snatched the opening set 6-4 before a lengthy rain delay interrupted play on the French Riviera.

But Moya returned as he had left off, running the dogged Hewitt around the Monte Carlo Country Club centre court when the match returned in the early evening.

"This is a special tournament for me...I won it in 1998," said Moya.

"It is somewhere where I always feel I can do well, so I am especially pleased.

"After winning the first set I was disappointed about the break because it could have given him a chance to regroup.

"But I continued to play well and managed to get the win."

Tenth seed Andy Roddick beat Fernando Gonzalez

"It was tough," Hewitt said after his defeat. "I don't know how it could get much worse.

"I had never played here before.

"After a couple of weeks off, first match on clay, it was like playing in mud out there," Hewitt said.

"I couldn't believe they didn't pull us off."

Andy Roddick was made to battle to win through to the second round. Click here for gamewatch

The 19-year-old American beat Chilean qualifier Fernando Gonzalez 7-6(7/4) 7-6(9/7) to record his first win at the clay-court event.

Roddick, the number 10 seed, is chasing the fifth title of his young career.

Alex Corretja and Marcelo Rios both made it safely through to the next round without losing a set.

Corretja, the 13th seed, beat Jan-Michael Gambill of the US 7-5 7-6(7/5).

Rios of Chile lost just five games in beating France's Fabrice Santoro 6-3 6-2.

Earlier sixth seed Marat Safin overcame a slow start before beating Spaniard Tommy Robredo to book his place in the second round.

The Russian had not won a match in his three previous appearances in Monte Carlo and his losing streak seemed destined to continue when he lost the first set and went 3-0 down in the second.

But the erratic 22-year-old, who was the runner-up at the Australian Open, then pulled his game together and rattled off nine games in a row before finally securing a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory. Click here for gamewatch

Rios had few problems against Fabrice Santoro

Second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero also went through, with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory over Albert Portas.

Ferrero has had a poor start to the season, losing eight of his 15 matches so far, but had little trouble in seeing off his fellow Spaniard.

Ferrero will face another compatriot, Felix Mantilla, in the second round.

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Tuesday's first round results from the Monte Carlo Masters (seeds are in bold):

13 Alex Corretja (Sp) bt Jan-Michael Gambill (US) 7-5 7-6(7/5)
10 Andy Roddick (US) bt Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 7-6(7/4) 7-6(9/7)
Michel Kratochvil (Swi) bt Max Mirnyi (Bel) 0-6 6-3 6-4
Marcelo Rios (Chile) bt Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 6-3 6-2
2 JC Ferrero (Sp) bt A Portas (Sp) 6-2 6-2
D Hrbaty (Svk) bt A Vinciguerra (Swe) 6-4 6-4
6 M Safin (Rus) bt T Robredo (Spa) 4-6 6-3 6-2
N Massu (Chile) bt D Sanguinetti (It) 5-7 6-0 6-3
15 Younes El Aynaoui (Mor) bt Agustin Calleri (Arg) 6-3 6-4
9 Roger Federer (Swi) bt Mariano Zabaleta (Arg) 7-6 (7/2) 6-4
Carlos Moya (Sp) bt 1 Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-4 6-3
5 Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Nicolas Escude (Fra) 6-4 6-2
David Nalbandian (Arg) bt Rainer Schuettler (Ger) 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (4-7) 6-2
4 Tim Henman (Gbr) bt Guillermo Coria (Arg) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-1
Attila Savolt (Hun) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) 6-3 7-5
7 Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt Mark Philippoussis (Aus) 6-4 6-4

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