Rusedski suffers more anguish

The British No 2 Greg Rusedski suffered another blow to his disappointing season last night when he was knocked out in the first round of the Toulouse Grand Prix. Rusedski went down in straight sets to the Morrocan Hicham Arazi, 6-3, 6-4.

The British No 2 Greg Rusedski suffered another blow to his disappointing season last night when he was knocked out in the first round of the Toulouse Grand Prix. Rusedski went down in straight sets to the Morrocan Hicham Arazi, 6-3, 6-4.

Elsewhere, the Swede Magnus Norman battled for over two hours to overcome Italy's Andrea Gaudenzi and progress to the second round of the Shanghai Open. "I was playing pretty poorly the last two weeks, so I feel like my confidence was not really 100 per cent there," the world No 3 said after struggling to beat Gaudenzi 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. "I was expecting a tough match... I'm happy to get through."

Norman faded in the second set as his heavy ground strokes repeatedly found the net and Gaudenzi won it on the tie-break. The turning point came in the fifth game of the third set, when Norman chased down a long, looping lob and returned the ball between his legs to win the point.

In Linz, Austria, last night the second seed Venus Williams struggled to beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama at the Generali Open. A weary Williams, currently third in the world rankings, won the second round indoor hardcourt match 7-5, 6-2 for her 33rd successive triumph. "I have not played tennis or done any training for two weeks. I wasn't playing my best," Williams admitted.