Gaudio Wins, Federer Pulls at Basel

Both seeds in play advanced Tuesday at the ATP stop in Basel, but the real story was Roger Federer's year possibly coming to an end after he sustained an upper left thigh muscle tear during a practice session.

Federer could be back on tour in 10-14 days in time for the year-ending Masters Cup, but speculation is that his season is over, with the Swiss having already sewn up the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Seeds into the second round Tuesday were French Open winner (3) Gaston Gaudio (d. (Q) D.Norman) and (5) Tommy "The R." Robredo (d. (WC) Wawrinka in three).

Unseeded players into the second round were lucky loser Bohdan Ulihrach (d. Luis "Me So" Horna, who retired after the first set with a back injury), Argentine Mariano "I Was Once a New Ball" Zabaleta (d. Hanescu 7-6 in the third), (WC)Ivo "I Dated Hingis" Heuberger (d. Dent), Austrian Stefan "Tony" Koubek (d. Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan in three), and Jiri Novak (d. Florian "Oscar" Mayer).

"I'm very pleased. For me there is Wimbledon, US Open and Basel," said the Swiss Heuberger after subduing the chunky-style Dent. "I served and returned well all match. These were the main reasons for the victory being pretty easy in the end."

On court Wednesday are (8) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (Q) Haehnel, Dupuis vs. (2) Henman, (4) Nalbandian vs. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (first meeting), (Q) Kratochvil vs. (7) Massu, Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. (6) Rainer "Shine" Schuettler (first meeting), Montanes vs. (WC) Chiudinelli, Chela vs. Ljubicic, "You Say" Potito Starace vs. (Q) Moodie, and Volandri vs. Spadea.