Mechanic Boutter dismantles Kuerten in Open

Second seed Gustavo Kuerten's shocking run of Australian Open form continued on Monday when he crashed out of the first round with a 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 defeat by part-time mechanic Julien Boutter.

Frenchman Boutter, 27, fought back doggedly after dropping the first two sets to beat an injured and out of form Kuerten in 189 minutes in the first major upset of the tournament on Melbourne Park's Rod Laver Arena.

Kuerten's loss also continued an unhappy opening day for organisers of the season-opening grand slam tournament after leading seeds Andre Agassi and Serena Williams and crowd favourite Mary Pierce all withdrew hurt.

Kuerten, champion three times on French Open clay, has struggled to come to terms with Melbourne Park's hardcourts and has not made it past the second round in six years of trying.

The Brazilian had a terrible end to 2001 and surrendered his world number one ranking to Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the Masters' Cup in Sydney last November.

His return to Australia in the new year was no better and the 25-year-old righthander never looked comfortable against Boutter in a centre court match interrupted by rain in the first set.

SECOND VICTORY

The Frenchman hammered 37 aces past a lacklustre Kuerten, whose game steadily deserted him after the first set, to score his second career win over him after also upsetting him in Basel last year.

"Of course he was injured...but it's not so easy," Boutter said. "It's pretty hard to keep the concentration after his injury. My weapon today was to never let him come back."

Boutter completed a mechanics degree at Metz university in 1995 and only now believes his tennis career is taking off.

Boutter traced his resurgence to the second set, when he felt he was starting to make headway against Kuerten's serve.

"I was starting to hit the ball earlier on his second serve...it's one piece, two pieces...you're building something every point," Boutter told reporters.

Kuerten appeared sluggish against an effervescent Boutter, who finished last year ranked 49th in the world, and twice required treatment courtside.

At the end of the fourth set he lay on a towel at the side of the court and was helped by a trainer as he did stretching exercises for his lower back.

Tournament officials said Kuerten left Melbourne Park for more medical treatment not long after his loss.

Kuerten had gifted Boutter a crucial break of serve in the eighth game of the fourth set with a double fault.

The momentum was all Boutter's from that point and the French journeyman then beat Kuerten with an ace to seal the set.

Boutter, who has never made it past the second round of a grand slam tournament, claimed another service break in the first game of the deciding set when the discouraged Brazilian pushed a backhand long.