Manta stumbles again in first round

Lorenzo Manta was knocked out of the first round in Kentucky. Keystone / AP Photo / Kim D. Johnson

Switzerland's Lorenzo Manta is struggling to get into form on the men's singles circuit. Although seeded fourth at the Lexington challenger tournament, Manta (ATP 172) was eliminated in the first round.

The Zurich player was beaten 6-1, 7-6 by Takao Suzuki (ATP 197) of Japan.

Manta’s defeat in Kentucky follows his first round elimination from the Los Angeles ATP tournament last week. He was beaten in his first game by the American, Paul Goldstein.

In California, Switzerland’s tennis star, Martina Hingis, has progressed to the next round of the WTA tournament in San Diego. It was her first match since losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals last month.

The world number one beat the Belgian player, Dominique van Roost (WTA 15) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) to qualify for the quarter-finals of the $535,000 tournament at Carlsbad. Hingis had been given a bye in the first round.

Nonetheless, she had difficulty disposing of van Roost. Her opponent at one stage led 6-5 in the second set, but failed to hold her serve, which would have sent the match into a deciding third set.

Hingis said she was generally satisfied with her performance, but realised the need for improvement.

“Overall, I think it was a good match to have. I still need a little bit of improvement on some of the strokes. In some parts of my game I got better and took some more risks” said Hingis.

She took a three-week break from the WTA circuit after losing to Venus Williams in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, spending most of the time at her home in Florida.

swissinfo with agencies