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Swiss miss

Rios falls in second round at Gstaad

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Posted: Thursday July 08, 1999 04:04 PM

Marcelo Rios is still trying to find his form following a five-week layoff. AP

GSTAAD, Switzerland (AP) -- Still showing the effects of a five-week layoff, third seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile was upset in the second round of the Swiss Open on Thursday, losing to Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui in straight sets.

The other Moroccan in the tournament, Hicham Arazi was less fortunate, falling 6-2, 6-0 in just 50 minutes to Felix Mantilla, the 1997 champion.

Seventh-seed Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina left an already-depleted field even weaker, losing 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 to Italian qualifier Andrea Gaudenzi.

With Rios and Zabaleta out, just three seeded players remain, with Mantilla becoming the top-ranked player.

El Aynaoui, 33rd in the ATP rankings, beat the world's ninth ranked player 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).

"It was tough coming back from such a long break," said Rios, who has a 24-6 match record this year. "Your first tournament back, it's tough to control the ball."

After recovering from a stress fracture to his lower spine early in the year, Rios sustained a thigh injury that prevented him from playing at Wimbledon.

Rios' last tournament dates back to the French Open five weeks ago, where he lost in the quarterfinals by Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty.

Despite the setbacks, the 23-year-old Chilean still managed to win a pair of tournaments in Hamburg and St. Poelten this year, increasing his career titles to 14.

In his match against El Aynaoui, the opening set failed to produce a break, with the Moroccan winning the tiebreak.

Rios broke El Aynaoui twice in the second, but the determined Moroccan broke back immediately each time, forcing a second tiebreak, which also ended 7-5 in his favor.

"I had my chances and I didn't take them," said Rios. "I had two breaks in the second and still lost."

"It was a great win for me," said El Aynaoui, still seeking his first ATP title. "I was a bit nervous because haven't played a top-10 player in a long time."

In other second-round play, Frenchman Arnaud di Pasquale beat 1992 Olympic champion Marc Rosset 7-5, 7-6 (7-3); and Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador defeated Croatian qualifier Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

 

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