No chance for Heuberger

Heuberger was beaten in straight sets Keystone

Swiss men's number four Ivo Heuberger saw his French Open campaign come to an early end on Monday after coming up against defending champion Gustavo Kuerten.

After holding his own against the Brazilian in the opening set, Heuberger found things a little tougher in the next two sets – eventually crashing out 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

The 26-year-old from St Gallen was competing in his first ever French Open but could hardly have been handed a tougher opening round draw. Kuerten, who needed just over an hour and a half to wrap up victory, has won three of the last five French Open titles.

Kratochvil through

There was better news from a Swiss perspective for Michel Kratochvil on Monday, with the Bernese Swiss number two making sure of his place in the tournament’s second round.

In a somewhat lopsided match against Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty, Kratochvil took the opening set 6-0 before surrendering the second on a tie-break.

Having then secured the third set 6-3, the Swiss wobbled once more in the fourth. But after conceding an early break, Kratochvil came back again to complete a 6-0, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory.

He now faces 22-year-old Rumanian, Andrei Pavel, who moves on to the second round after his first-round opponent, Britain’s Martin Lee retired with the score on 6-1, 5-4.

swissinfo with agencies