Philippoussis forced to quit

AUSTRALIAN Mark Philippoussis was forced to retire from his first round US Open match at Flushing Meadows, New York yesterday with a knee injury.

Philippoussis was leading his match with 24th seed 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 3-6 3-5 when he went up for an overhead but mis-timed his jump and fell badly clutching his left knee.

After lengthy treatment on the court, it was felt that to retire would be his best option. It was the same knee that he has had surgery on three times.

He first picked up the problem at Wimbledon 1999 and it has forced him to miss the US Open in two of the last three years. Meanwhile, former world number one Carlos Moya celebrated his 26th birthday in fine style by booking his place in the second round.

The Spaniard, competing at Flushing Meadows for the seventh time, had to show plenty of determination to come from a set-down and beat Romania’s Adrian Voinea 3-6 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Moya, seeded nine, looked shaky early on as Voinea took control but, after taking the second set, cruised through to set up a meeting with Jan-Michael Gambill.

Ladies’ seventh seed Kim Clijsters may not boast a pair of Grand Slam titles like her boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt, but a crown surely must be in her future if yesterday’s performance is any indication.

The Belgian star defied blistering heat to make quick work of Conchita Martinez Granados of Barcelona, breezing to a 6-1 6-0 victory in just 42 minutes.

Despite sharing the name of a former Wimbledon champion, Martinez was no match and never really put the Belgian under pressure.

Clijsters, who played in the French Open final last year and reached the Australian Open semi-final this year, won 14 of the 16 points when she came into the net.

Clijsters, having turned 19 this summer, thoroughly dominated the match. Tenth seed Amelie Mauresmo eased past Iveta Benesova in straight sets.

The French star always held the upper hand and soon had the first set wrapped up 6-3. Benesova just could not match the power of Mauresmo and soon found herself heading out of the tournament, losing the second set 6-2.

Chanda Rubin, the 14th seed moved into round two with a straight sets win over Jill Craybas.

Rubin was in control from the very first point and soon had the first set in the bag, taking it 6-1.

Fellow American Craybas did manage to find some form in the second set, but even that wasn’t good enough as Rubin took the set and the match 6-3.