of the Bermuda Open yesterday, "Nobody's invincible.'' Indeed. Just as one swallow does not make a summer, a win over the legendary Pete Sampras might make headlines around the globe, but it does not make you a world beater overnight.

The Nebraskan may well go on to reach the top of the pile as Sampras prophesised after he was beaten in the Ericsson Open in Miami last month.

But his straight sets loss (6-4, 6-3) against Peru's Luis Horna showed, as he himself acknowleged in a recent Royal Gazette interview, he is still on a learning curve.

Known for his missile-like serve, Roddick far too often found his first service wanting and in Horna, ranked 153rd in the current ATP Champions Race, he found a determined adversary.

It would be unfair to say this was just a match he lost, though. Yes, he made unforced errors and took the odd wrong decision, but Horna worked hard for the win.

"The guy just played too tough. He was kicking my butt from the beginning,'' said Roddick, the number six seed. "I tried different things but I was a little too inconsistent today.'' After the initial games went with serve, the pendulum began to swing the way of the South American in the 10th.

Roddick took the first point, but allowed Horna to get on top and though he brought the game back to 30-40, the American could not hold on and went a set down. With Horna 3-2 up in the second, Roddick succumbed on his own serve again in the sixth -- the Peruvian clenching his fist as he sensed his opportunity. Although he lost his own serve a game later, he maintained his advantage by breaking Roddick in the eighth and took the match in the next.

"I was shaky today and he was playing good tennis and that does not make for a good combination,'' said Roddick.

Horna, who reached the quarter-finals as a qualifier, said it was not as easy as it perhaps appeared on paper.

"It wasn't easy. I played good in the important points, the court is not his best surface so I took advantage of that,'' he said.

"I got a lot of confidence from my other match when I was losing and came back. I'm playing good, the weather is helping me, the courts are slow as I like, so I think everything is OK.'' Earlier, American qualifier Michael Russell claimed the scalp of number two seed and Korea's best player, Hyung-Taik Lee, in three sets (6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1).

The match swung this way and that, both players losing their service games with regularity early on.

Russell took the first set and had a match point in the second, only for Lee to fight back and take it to a tie-break which he eventually won.

However, any thoughts that the Korean might go on to win were firmly quashed as Russell surged to a 5-0 lead in the deciding set.

Roddick bows out From Page 19 Lee won the sixth game, but Russell was just killing time before taking the match on his serve with a devastating final ace.

"It was up and down. It was tough because some games he would come up and hit great shots and I felt helpless, and in other games he made a couple of unforced errors really early that were uncharacteristic of him,'' said Detroit-born Russell. "I didn't know what to expect I just tried to make him play, hit my forehand as heavy as I could and hope to wear him down, which I think I did.'' The last time the pair met was in 1998 in Canada in a match Lee won 6-0, 7-5.

"I played him three years ago before he made his breakthough,'' said the 23-year-old. "So hopefully he's helping me make mine.'' With the top six seeds all now out of contention, Russell's wish may possibly be about to come true.