RTRS - Tennis - Muster upset , Philippoussis wins , Stoltenberg loses .
TORONTO 1996-08-21
Top-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria was beaten 6-3 7-5 by 123rd-ranked Daniel Nestor of Canada on Wednesday in his first match of the $ 2 million Canadian Open .
A lefthander with a strong serve , Nestor kept the rallies short by constantly attacking the net and the tactic worked in the second-round match against Muster , playing his first match after receiving a first-round bye along with the other top eight seeds .
The tournament also lost its second seed on the third day of play when second-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia was beaten 6-7(3-7 ) 6-4 6-4 by unseeded Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden .
Other seeded players advancing were number three Wayne Ferreira of South Africa , number four Marcelo Rios of Chile , number six MaliVai Washington of the United States and American Todd Martin , the seventh seeed .
Eighth seed Marc Rosset of Switzerland was eliminated in a one hour , 55 minute battle by unseeded Mark Philippoussis of Australia .
Philippoussis saved a match point at 5-6 in the third-set tie break before winning 6-3 3-6 7-6 ( 8-6 ) .
Philippoussis 's compatriot , 13th seed Jason Stoltenberg , was not as fortunate .
He held one match point at 9-8 in a marathon third-set tie break but was beaten 5-7 7-6 ( 7-1 ) 7-6 ( 13-11 ) by unseeded Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic .
" I knew I had to serve well and keep the points short and that 's what I was able to do , " said Nestor , who ranks 10th in doubles .
There were only two service breaks in the match .
The lanky Canadian broke Muster at 4-3 in the first set and 5-5 in the second before ending the match on his third match point when the Austrian hit a service return long .
" I probably did n't hit five ground strokes in the whole match , " said Muster , only partly joking . "
The way he was chipping and charging and serving and volleying I did n't really get my timing playing from the baseline . "
" He played a good match , took a few chances , and every time he was down he was able to come up with a big first serve . "
Playing at night was not Muster 's preference . "
I asked for a day match and they gave me a night match , " he said . "
I do n't like playing under the lights but maybe it would not have made any difference . "
Ivanisevic rallied from a 2-5 deficit in the first set but then played erratically against the 44th-ranked Tillstrom , who was a surprise winner over his famous compatriot Stefan Edberg in the second round at Wimbledon .
Ivanisevic hit 32 aces but was outplayed from the back court by the 24-year-old Tillstrom .
The sixth-ranked Ivanisevic , who lost in the final at Indianapolis to world number one Pete Sampras of the U.S. last Sunday , made a quick getaway after his loss but did say : " Something was not there when I arrived ( in Toronto ) .
I did n't feel good .
And I did n't have a good feeling as soon as I lost in my doubles ( on Tuesday ) . "
" I thought he looked a little unfocused at certain times on his ground strokes , " said Tillstrom .
The 19-year-old Philippoussis , who beat Sampras in the third round of this year 's Australian Open , stayed calm in a nervy third-set tie break against Rosset .
" I 'm pleased because I did n't play that great today , but I fought really well , " he said . "
When I was down 2-5 in the tiebreak ( in the third set ) , I just thought about winning my two serves and hoped that he might get tight .
Then he shanked a forehand at to make it 5-all and that helped me back . "