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Tuesday, 6 August, 2002, 20:45 GMT 21:45 UK
Chang stuns seeded Haas
![]() Chang showed flashes of his former self
Michael Chang pulled out the surprise of the first round in the ATP Masters Series event in Cincinnati with a straight-sets victory over Tommy Haas. The 30-year-old was in stunning form as he overwhelmed the number three seed 6-3 6-2.
"I went out there and went for my shots," said Chang. "Most of them went in." Haas has been struggling with a long-standing shoulder injury which resulted in him being knocked out of the semi-finals of the Masters event in Toronto. But the German refused to blame his lacklustre performance on injury. "I don't think I was mentally there," he said. "I never got into a rhythm.
"It was tough to come back and focus, and Michael played very well. Even when he hit the frame, he was hitting the line." Chang was joined in the second round by world number one Lleyton Hewitt, who coasted to a 6-0 6-0 victory over American Robby Ginepri.
But Hewitt was later fined $20,000 or half his prize money at the tournament - whichever is greater - for failing to fulfil a publicity requirement. ATP officials said Hewitt had been asked to do a pre-US Open interview for a television broadcaster but had refused last week in Toronto and again on Sunday and Monday in Cincinnati. "I had done all of my commitments for the week and I never agreed to to another interview," said Hewitt. "I got told I had to do one when I came in from practise. They were going to fine me if I didn't go out on the court. I said I'd do it five minutes before I walked out. But nothing got solved." Andy Roddick despatched Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil 6-3 6-3 to coast into the next round. And there was a morale-boosting win for 15th seed Pete Sampras, who came from behind to beat Toronto Masters champion Guillermo Canas 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 6-3.
Sampras went a set and a break down against the Argentinean before turning the match around. Canas served for the match at 6-5 in the second set but Sampras broke back then clung on a tense tiebreaker. Having missed his chance, Canas's challenge faded in the decider and Sampras, roared on by his home crowd, took full advantage to book a second round berth. But two other seeds joined Haas as early casualties. Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian, the 14th seed, lost 3-6 6-3 6-4 to Jarkko Nieminen while Sebastien Grosjean, seeded 11, lost 6-3 3-6 6-4 to Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty.
Tuesday's first round results (seeds in brackets)
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