TOKYO, Oct 5: Top seed Mariano Puerta put aside his off-court problems at the Japan Open on Wednesday, beating American Eric Taino 6-3 6-4 in the second round. The Argentine was named by French daily L’Equipe on Wednesday as having tested positive for a banned substance at this year’s French Open where he reached the final.

“I was very tired last week,” said Argentine Puerta, who was thrashed 6-1 6-0 by Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman in Ho Chi Minh in the Vietnam Open semi-finals.

“I went there directly from the Davis Cup (in Slovakia) and I was in no condition to play Bjorkman. Today’s win will help me to make it to the Masters Cup in Shanghai.”

Puerta, who is ranked 10th in the world, vigorously denied the L’Equipe report that said traces of a stimulant called etilefrine were found in a urine sample taken after his French Open final defeat by Spain’s Rafael Nadal.

Third seed Robby Ginepri crushed German’s Alexander Popp 6-4 6-0 to book his place in the third round of the $765,000 tournament.

Australian Open champion Marat Safin, Briton Tim Henman and Argentines Gaston Gaudio and David Nalbandian all pulled out of the tournament through injury.

Meanwhile, Puerta could face a life ban as he had already been banned for nine months for testing positive for an anabolic steroid in 2003.

He tested positive for Etilefrine, used for hypotension, at Roland Garros.

Puerta, who lost the Roland Garros final to Spain’s Rafael Nadal, has climbed into the top 10 after starting the year at 400 when he was forced to play challenger tournaments following his previous doping offence.

Puerta was playing in Tokyo this week. He made a winning start at the Japan Open on Wednesday when he beat American qualifier Eric Taino 6-3, 6-4 in 59 minutes.

L’Equipe said the player will not be identified by the men’s ruling body, ATP, until he has appeared before a doping panel.

Puerta reacted angrily to the allegations.

“This is a very delicate subject, there’s no truth in it,” he was quoted on the SKY TV website.

“It’s strange because nobody from the ATP or ITF has called me. The newspapers can say anything without proof. I haven’t taken anything I shouldn’t.”

Puerta, 27, is the fifth Argentine player to have tested positive for drugs in five years.

Guillermo Canas was suspended two years this year, Martin Rodriguez was docked ATP points and his winnings in 2003, Guillermo Coria was suspended seven months in 2001 and Juan Ignacio Chela suspended three months in 2000.

In Paris in June, Puerta said his comeback from the tennis wilderness was due to hard work and sacrifice.

The left-hander had tested positive for clenbutherol, a favourite drug of the former East German athletes in the 1980s, at a tournament in Vina del Mar in 2003.

The International Tennis Federation said Tuesday they would take over doping tests from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) next year.

The move is seen as aimed at tightening up the system of drug tests to better accord with the work of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which directs the international battle against drugs in all sports.

The ITF and the ATP had signed up to the WADA code which could lead to a life ban for Puerta if found guilty.

Britain’s Greg Rusedski was cleared of using a doping offence last year, having failed a test for a steroid in July 2003, when he was able to successfully plead the banned substance was unwittingly supplied by ATP officials.

The Canadian-born former US Open finalist’s defence centred around the case of Czech player Bohdan Ulihrach, who was cleared of a similar offence in 2003.

Ulihrach, and six other unnamed players, were exonerated when the ATP admitted their trainers may have been responsible for handing out contaminated supplements.

Men’s singles (second round):

Mariano Puerta bt Eric Taino 6-3, 6-4; Robby Ginepri bt Alexander Popp 6-4, 6-0; Kenneth Carlsen bt Nicolas Lapentti 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (11/9); Paradorn Srichaphan bt Takahiro Terachi 6-1, 6-4; Gilles Muller bt Alexander Waske (GER) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1

Women’s singles (firs round)

Tatiana Golovin bt Abigail Spears 6-4, 6-2; Nicole Vaidisova bt Akiko Morigami 4-6, 6-1, 6-1

Second Round: Sofia Arvidsson bt Shinobu Asagoe 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.—AFP