MADRID, Spain (AP) — Monica Seles was eliminated in her opening match at the Spanish Open, losing to Paraguay’s Rossana de los Rios 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 Wednesday.
Seles was seeded first at the $170,000 clay-court tournament, but was bettered by a player ranked 72nd by the WTA. Seles and the other top seeds received byes into the second round.
I didn't come as prepared as I thought,'' Seles said.I was only able to train for three or four days after my injury and you could see that in my game.”
She pulled out of the Italian Open earlier this month with a foot injury.
I would have liked to stay in the tournament,'' Seles said.I came to tune up for (the French Open) and to play some matches after my injury. But it wasn’t to be.”
Elsewhere, second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario advanced when Barbara Rittner quit after losing the first set 7-6 (4).
In other matches involving seeded players, No. 3 Sandrine Testud beat Julia Vakulenko 6-0, 6-4, No. 6 Lisa Raymond defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-3, No. 7 Magui Serna outlasted Cara Black 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, and No. 8 Angeles Montolio came back to top Maria Antonio Sanchez Lorenzo 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.