Mathieu, Seppi make first-round exits
EASTBOURNE, England -- Seeded players Paul-Henri Mathieu and Andreas Seppi bowed out in straight sets on the opening day of the ATP grasscourt tournament at Eastbourne on Sunday.
Third-seeded Mathieu fell 6-4, 6-2 to Janko Tipsarevic, and seventh-seeded Seppi lost 7-6 (4), 7-5 to Ivan Ljubicic in the warmup for Wimbledon.
Mathieu faced 17 break points in the match. He was unable to save one in the first set and two in the second, while his opponent held off two of two break points, both in the first set.
Need the scores from any match played in today's tournaments? In other matches, American Robby Ginepri eased to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andrey Golubev, and Denis Istomin defeated American Kevin Kim 7-6 (5), 7-5.
The tournament features men and women for the first time, as players make their final preparations for Wimbledon, which begins June 22.
While the men's draw has attracted two players ranked in the top 30, only three of the top 10 female players were absent. Top-ranked Dinara Safina and Serena and Venus Williams did not enter the event.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
