Brits Bounced at Monte Carlo; Wheaton Publishes College Fun Guide

"The conditions were very slow so of course, they were against him today. I took advantage of that," Federer said. "You know, his serve just didn't -- he didn't get enough free points. Even though he was maybe serving 220, 230, I still got the ball back quite comfortably today. I was a little surprised about that. Of course from the baseline, now I've got more of a variety. So for him it was tough. He wasn't coming in that much. He was relying very much upon his slice, and that is a tough way to beat me."

Both Brits were escorted out in the opening round when No. 3 seed Tim Henman was beaten in three sets by Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta who took advantage of the extra-slow conditions.

"When it's that cool and it's obviously wet and you got the covers at the back of the court which are there to protect it, but they just get a lot of moisture on them, then the balls go on there and you feel like everything is getting pretty damp," said Henman, who was hoping for a drier court. "But he's playing in the same conditions. So you just, you do, you've got to try and play as best you can."

Other seeded winners were (2) Marat Safin (d. H.-T. Lee, bagel in the first), (9) Guillermo Canas (d. Andreev), (10) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Melzer from a set down), and (13) Mario Ancic (d. Kuerten).

Four other unseeded players orchestrated upsets on the red dirt with ousted seeds (5) Carlos Moya (l. to Puerta in three for the third time in 2005), (8) Ivan Ljubicic (l. to O.Rochus 2-and-2), (12) Thomas Johansson (l. to (WC) Lisnard), and (14) Dominik Hrbaty (l. to Ferrer).

"I was unlucky to be drawn against him in the first round," said Moya of Puerta, not exactly giving the post-match conference of champions. "There are lots of players who I could have drawn who are not claycourt specialists, or were playing their first match of the season on clay. This was a chance to win a few matches. He is clearly giving me trouble at the moment, he's very confident right now...I don't know what I'll do against him next time."

Other un-seeds into the second round were Spaniards Al Martin (d. Starace), Al Costa (d. Llodra) and Al Montanes (d. El Aynaoui), Frenchman Fabrice Santoro (d. Soderling), Italians Filippo Volandri (d. Arthurs) and qualifier Andreas Seppi (d. F.Lopez), Chile's Fernando Gonzalez (d. Verdasco), Czech Tomas Berdych (d. Horna 7-6 in the third), and German Florian Mayer (d. (Q) Benneteau).

On court Wednesday in the principality are (6) Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria vs. (Q) Ascione, (11) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, Saulnier vs. (2) Safin, (1) Federer vs. Montanes, (4) Gaudio vs. Kiefer, in doubles waffles Malisse/Rochus vs. baguettes (6) Llodra/Santoro, A.Martin vs. (WC) Lisnard, (Q) Gasquet vs. (Q) Mantilla, Volandri vs. (9) Canas, Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (13) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Ferrer vs. (Q) Seppi, Tomas "I Beat Federer in '04" Berdych vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, (16) Novak vs. the confidence-challenged (WC) Ferrero, Fabrice "The Original Wizard" Santoro vs. Zabaleta, (Q) Hanescu vs. (15) Stepanek, (10) Davydenko vs. Costa, and Puerta vs. Florian "Oscar" Mayer.

Dementieva Hip to Win at WTA Charleston

No. 2-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva, coming off a hip injury that kept her out of Amelia Island last week, looked strong in her opener Tuesday at the ATP stop in Charleston, downing rising countrywoman Alina Jidkova 6-4, 6-4.

"I felt very confident today on the court," said the service-challenged Dementieva, who chunked in double-digit double faults but looked to have more "oomph" on he first serve. "I like to play on the claycourts, and I had the rest last week, so I feel pretty fresh. I was ready for this match and I really enjoyed today."

Seeds sent home Tuesday were No. 6 Vera Zvonareva, blowing a 4-1 lead in the third against Iveta Benesova, and No. 12 Silvia Farina Elia, ousted by Croat Jelena Kostanic.

Other seeded winners were (7) Nadia Petrova (d. Morigami, bagel in the second), (13) Tatiana Golovin (d. Frazier), (14) Shinobu Asagoe (d. Lee-Waters from a set down), and (15) Mary Pierce (d. Washington).

Other unseeded winners on the day were American Lisa Raymond (d. Razzano, bagel in the second), Aussie Sam Stosur (d. Ruano Pascual), Slovak Katarina Srebotnik (d. (WC) Pratt), Czech Barbora Strycova (d. Martinez), Spain's Marta Marrero (d. countrywoman Medina Garrigues, bagel in the second), and American Meghann Shaughnessy (d. (WC) Daniilidou, bagel in the second).

No. 5 seed Alicia Molik withdrew from the event with an inner ear infection.

"I feel like my body isn't allowing me to play so I can't fight that," Molik said. "I hope to be back next year."

The injury-free Pierce says she is rejuvinated and ready for Roland Garros in May.

"The French is my favorite tournament," said Pierce. "It's definitely my goal of the claycourt season, if not of the year, and I'm feeling good and really excited.

Scheduled for Wednesday on the dirt are Groenefeld vs. Sugiyama, the former No. 1 Henin-Hardenne vs. Peng, world No. 1 Davenport vs. Pelletier, Vaidisova vs. Myskina, Venus vs. Chladkova, Stosur vs. Klara "Kouky" Koukalova, Patty "Handshake" Schnyder vs. Marrero, Pierce vs. Nuria Llagostera "Panco" Vives, Asagoe vs. Shaughnessy, Raymond vs. Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin, Kutuzova vs. Zuluaga, Perebiynis vs. Srebotnik, and Kostanic vs. Strycova.

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