PARIS (AFP) - Former world number one Andy Roddick leapt to the defence of Paris Masters no-shows Roger Federer and Andre Agassi as the sport`s foot soldiers seized their unexpected opportunity to slug it out on centre court at the Bercy Arena.
Officials were furious with the last minute pullout of Agassi - who claimed he had a hip injury - and argued that the nine-event Masters series was discredited by the no-shows.
The gravity of the situation was almost embarrassingly highlighted by the humble figure of Italian journeyman Davide Sanguinetti.
The player ranked 109 in the world had lost in qualifying but was called back as a lucky loser and then fast-tracked into the second round to plug the gap left by Agassi.
On Tuesday, he rode his good fortune to take a one-set lead over Sweden`s Robin Soderling before eventually running out of steam and losing 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-0.
Roddick, the top seed and who skipped the Monte Carlo and Madrid Masters this year, lashed out at those officials who are demanding financial penalties against players who skip the tournaments.
"In what other sport do you play 11 months of the year?," asked the American.
"I am going to finish my season on December 5 and start next year on January 5. I would rather pull out of an event than injure myself. If they can`t understand the way an athlete works, it`s too bad."
Roddick, who has to return to Europe next month for the Davis Cup final in Spain, believes there are too many individuals working against each other to be able to find a workable solution to the problem.
"There are things that should be changed but they will never happen," Roddick said.
"Too many people are involved in the decision process. They will never all agree because they all want a slice of the cake."
Agassi, twice a champion here and seeded five, told organisers he had injured his right hip in his final defeat in Stockholm at the weekend.
He was immediately joined on the sidelines by Argentina`s David Nalbandian, who was to be the eighth seed, who said he had a knee injury.
World number one Federer, former French Open champions Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and world number five Guillermo Coria of Argentina all pulled out last week leaving five of the world`s top ten missing from this tournament.
"The organisers of the Paris Masters deplore these withdrawals which have added to the long list of players absent both from Paris and the Madrid Masters two weeks ago," said a tournament spokesman.
"Whatever the reasons, these withdrawals from the elite ATP tournaments bring discredit to the circuit."
October`s Madrid Masters was also hit by high-profile absentees.
Federer, Roddick, Coria and Lleyton Hewitt all failed to play although Agassi did appear while Monte Carlo in April lost Federer, Roddick and Agassi.
Back on the courts Tuesday, Spain`s Feliciano Lopez of Spain beat Rainer Schuettler of Germany 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, Russia`s Nikolay Davydenko beat Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-2, 6-3 while qualifier Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic defeated France`s Michael Llodra 7-6 (7/2), 6-1.
Later, second seed Hewitt was facing French teenager Gael Monfils while defending champion and third seed Tim Henman was up against Thailand`s Paradorn Srichaphan.
11/02/2004 - 16:31 GMT - AFP