Ranked an unthreatening 65th in the world, Woodruff ended the 10th-ranked Spaniard's defence of his crown and quest for his first title since the World Championships last year in Hanover. The victory was a big step in Woodruff's comeback after a year in which he played just one match after injuring his knee kicking field goals at an Atlanta High School with compatriot Richey Reneberg.

RESULTS (PQF): Jim Courier (US) bt 9-Mark Philippoussis (Aust) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 11th-Mariano Zabaleta (Argentina) bt Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia) 6-4, 6-4. 1st round: Jeff Tarango (US) bt Mark Knowles (Bahamas) 6-4, 6-1, Jan-Michael Gambill (US) bt Jan Kroslak (Slovakia) 6-1, 6-2, Jan Siemerink (Neth) bt Hicham Arazi (Morocco) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)

Petrova stuns Martinez

MOSCOW: Nadejda Petrova, a17-year-old Russian, produced a major upset late last evening as she beat sixth-seeded Conchita Martinez (Spain) 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the 2nd round of the $ 1,050,000 Kremlin Cup Tennis Tournament.

In a tough battle that put together two Russian Fed Cup teammates, Tatjana Panova downed Elena Dementieva 7-6 (9-7), 1-6, 7-5. Yesterday, fifth-seeded Dominique Van-Roost (Belgium) defeated Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 7-5, 6-2, 18-year-old Russian qualifier Anastasia Myskina ousted Chanda Rubin (US) 6-4, 6-3 and 15-year-old wild card Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya, outpowered Silvija Talaja of Romania 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

Dechy moves up

BRATISLAVA (SLOVAKIA): Second-seeded Nathalie Dechy (France) advanced last evening into the 2nd round of the $ 112,500 Eurotel Slovak Indoor Tennis Tournament, beating Laurence Courtois (Belgium) 6-3, 6-4. The second day of the tournament produced one surprise when third-seeded hometown favuorite, Slovak Henrieta Nagyova, was defeated 4-6, 0-6 in the 1st round by Czech KvetaHrdlickova.

Results (1st round): 4-Sabine Appelmans (Belgium) bt Daniel Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-4, 6-4, Lubomira Bacheva (Bulgaria) bt 5-Corina Morariu (US) 5-7, 6-4, 1-6, Cim Klijsters (Belgiam) bt Tara Snyder (US) 6-1, 6-3, Cara Black (Zimbabwe) bt Radka Pelikanova (Czech Rep) 6-2, 6-1, Sandra Kleinova (Czech Rep) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzbek) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), Denis Chladkova (Czech Rep) bt Katalin Marosi (Hung) 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, 7-Barbara Schwartz (Aut) bt Renata Kucerova (Czech Rep) 6-2, 6-3.