Schuettler dumped out in Stuttgart
STUTTGART, Germany -- Top seed Rainer Schuettler has been knocked out of the Stuttgart Cup, going down 6-7 6-3 6-2 to Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the second round.
The former Australian Open finalist, who reached the quarter-final stage here last year, began the match strongly and won the first set 8-6 on a tiebreak.
But 18th-seeded Stepanek took control in the second set then broke the German's service twice in the third before sealing his victory with an ace.
Meanwhile, the other eight seeded players in action all won without dropping a single set.
Third seed Juan Ignacio Chela cruised past Jan Frode Andersen 6-3 6-1.
Also advancing were No. 5 Jiri Novak, No. 8 Mariano Zabaleta, No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny, No. 12 Albert Costa, No. 13 Ivo Karlovic, No. 14 Rafael Nadal and No. 16 Tomas Berdych.
Novak beat Thierry Ascione 6-2 6-4, Youzhny needed three match points to dispatch Sunday's Newport finalist Alexander Popp 6-3 7-6, Costa snapped a three-match losing streak against Felix Mantilla to win 7-5 6-4 and Nadal edged Martin Vassallo Arguello 7-6 6-4.
Zabaleta, who won the Swedish Open title Monday by beating Gaston Gaudio, ousted Marc Lopez of Spain 7-6 6-2, while Karlovic ended the hopes of Franco Squillari, the 2000 Stuttgart champion who had to qualify this year, winning 6-3 7-6.