TENNIS Mardy Fish sweeps Hernych in 1st round

Thomas Johansson rallied to defeat Xavier Malisse in the Stockholm Open.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish beat Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4 Monday to reach the second round of the St. Petersburg Open.
Hernych, ranked 85th, saved four break points late in the match to stay at 4-4 in the second set, but his backhand failed him in the final game as he lost the first three points and then the match to the third-seeded American.
In other action, Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic upset sixth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 6-2; Cyril Saulnier of France downed Alberto Martin of Spain 6-0, 6-1; Julien Benneteau got past Arnaud Clement 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, and fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko struggled past wild card Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4.
Stockholm Open
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson came back from an early deficit to edge Xavier Malisse of Belgium 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1) Monday to reach the second round of the Stockholm Open.
Third-seeded Andrei Pavel advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Agustin Calleri of Argentina, while Robby Ginepri of the United States quit because of a lower back injury while down 6-2, 2-1 against Fernando Verdasco of Spain.
Winners on Monday included Jan-Michael Gambill and wild card Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark. Gambill beat 2001 runner-up Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2, and Carlsen defeated 17-year-old wild card Ervin Eleskovic 6-0, 6-1.
Andre Agassi, who has not played in the Swedish capital since 1994, is seeded No. 1.
SEAT Open
LUXEMBOURG -- Third-seeded Silvia Farina Elia of Italy eased into the second round of the SEAT Open on Monday with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Stephanie Foretz of France.
Also, Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar defeated Mashona Washington of the United States 6-4, 6-2, and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia-Montenegro topped Anne Kremer of Luxembourg 6-3, 6-1.
Top-seeded Paola Suarez, a French Open semifinalist, and second-seeded Alicia Molik, an Olympic bronze medalist, have byes into the second round.
Kim Clijsters, who won the Luxembourg title four of the past five years, won't play because of the left wrist injury that sidelined her for much of 2004.
Generali Ladies Open
LINZ, Austria -- Ninth-seeded Elena Bovina beat Jelena Kostanic 6-4, 6-2 Monday to reach the Generali Ladies Open's second round.
Bovina, 30-16 with one WTA Tour title in 2004, lost in the second round of this tournament last year.
Her next opponent is Marion Bartoli, a 7-5, 6-1 winner over Tatiana Panova.
In another first-round match, Elena Likhovtseva of Russia beat Sylvia Bammer of Austria 6-3, 6-1. Likhovtseva will face fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia in the second round.