BASEL, Switzerland, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Tim Henman looks to duplicate a past triumph while Alex Corretja tries to avoid recent mediocrity Monday in the first round of the $1 million Swiss Indoors tennis event.
Henman, the second seed, won this tournament in 1998 and is the only former champion in this year's field. The British No. 1 collected his last title in February at the Copenhagen Open. He also advanced to the final of the Stella Artois grasscourt event at London in June.
Corretja, the third seed, also captured a trophy this year at the Dutch Open claycourt event. But when he has not play on that surface, he has gone 9-10 in 10 tournaments in 2001.
Tuesday, Henman will take on Frenchman Anthony Dupuis for the first time in his career. Corretja once again will face Switzerland's Marc Rosset, who the Spaniard has defeated in eight of their 10 meetings.
In other matches featuring seeded players, No. 5 Arnaud Clement of France faces Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, and No. 7 Carlos Moya of Spain meets Davide Sanguinetti of Italy.
Gustavo Kuerten was awarded the top seed. Despite having won six titles in 2001, the Brazilian will look to end his four-match losing streak, dating to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in September.
Also Tuesday, an additional quartet of Spaniards will play their first-round matches. Galo Blanco meets Russian lucky loser Nikolay Davydenko, and Juan Balcells encounters French qualifier Nicolas Thomann. Albert Portas faces local favorite Michel Kratochvil, and Tommy Robredo goes up against Italian Andrea Gaudenzi.
