Surprise wins for Bastl and Schnyder

Switzerland's George Bastl is through to the second round of the ATP tournament in Long Island after beating Germany's David Prinosil in three sets.

Although this was the first time the two men had met on the tour, Prinosil was the clear favourite. The Munich player is currently ranked 59 places higher than Bastl in the new Champions Race points system, based on performances over the course of a season.

Prinosil also appeared to be in good form after reaching the semi-finals of last week’s tournament in Indianopolis. But after faltering only in the second set, Bastl was a convincing 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 winner. He will now meet France’s Arnaud Clement in the second round.

Switzerland’s number two women’s player, Patty Schnyder, also won against the odds in her opening match at the WTA tournament in New Haven. Schnyder beat France’s Julie Halard-Decugis, who was seeded eighth at the Connecticut event. Following an impressive first set, Schnyder was taken to a tie-break in the second before winning 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

While Schnyder and Bastl are looking to reach their peak in time for next week’s US Open, there was less good news for the Swiss players hoping to qualify for the final Grand Slam event of the season.

Lorenzo Manta and Ivo Heuberger will not be playing at Flushing Meadows having both been eliminated in the first round of qualifying. Manta suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Italy’s Giorgio Galimberti, who is 130 places below the Swiss player in the world rankings. Heuberger’s exit was more expected, coming against Sébastien Lareau – the Canadian who recently upset Gustavo Kuerten in the Master Series in Toronto.

swissinfo with agencies