Rusty Kuerten falls in Monte Carlo

Gustavo Kuerten's comeback from hip surgery suffered a setback yesterday when the Brazilian lost 7-5 6-2 to 13th seed Mario Ancic in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Triple French Open champion Kuerten, who returned to the circuit in Valencia last week after a six-month absence, looked rusty against the tall Croat, losing in one hour 32 minutes.

Kuerten has happy memories of Monte Carlo having won the claycourt title in 1999 and 2001, but after dropping serve at 5-6 in the opening set his challenged withered.

Ancic produced a superb running backhand pass to break early in the second set and never looked like allowing Kuerten back into the match.

Another Croat, eighth seed Ivan Ljubicic, failed to get out of first gear on a cool morning at the Country Club, being bundled out 6-2 6-2 by Olivier Rochus of Belgium.

Other results: Federer bt Rusedski 6-3 6-1; Zabaleta bt Henman 6-4 4-6 6-2; Safin bt Lee 6-0 7-5; Volandri bt Arthurs 7-5 6-2.