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October 6, 2010

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Home » Sports » Tennis

Djokovic, Murray advance in Beijing

Source: Agencies | October 6, 2010, Wednesday | Print Edition

TOP-SEEDED Novak Djokovic of Serbia opened his China Open defense with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Gong Maoxin of China to ease into the second round yesterday.

No. 2-ranked Djokovic, this year's US Open runner-up won 87 percent of his first-serve points and took just 71 minutes to beat Gong.

"It feels good to be back on a court where I've had a lot success in the last couple of years," Djokovic said.

Britain's Andy Murray, the No. 2 seed, also had an easy win, beating Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-2, 6-3, while third-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden dropped the first set before downing Tommy Robredo of Spain 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Murray served up 10 aces to beat Mathieu, who was once ranked 12th in the world, but has since been plagued by injuries and had to go through qualifying to make the main draw in Beijing.

In other first-round matches yesterday, Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-4, 6-4 and Spain's Nicolas Almagro defeated Lukasz Kubot of Poland 7-5, 6-2.

In the second round of the women's singles, former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova made 18 unforced errors in losing to Russian compatriot Elena Vesnina 6-7 (3), 2-6. That followed her dismal performance last week in Tokyo where she crashed out in the opening round.

"It's not been a good end of the season for me. I have not had good preparations and will have to find a way to improve next season," said the 12th seed, who has slipped to 21st in the rankings.

The other Russian seeds in the women's tournament enjoyed better fortune as second seed Vera Zvonareva flattened Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-1 while No. 7 Elena Dementieva was given the run around before she overcame 40-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

Shahar Peer of Israel beat Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2, while Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic defeated Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-2.

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark begins her bid for the No. 1 ranking today against Italy's Sara Errani. A quarterfinal finish in Beijing will ensure she replaces Serena Williams as the top player in the world.

Hometown fans had something to cheer when Li Na defeated Alisa Kleybanova of Russia 6-1, 6-4.

In Tokyo, top-ranked Rafael Nadal downed Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Japan Open yesterday.

Nadal, coming off a surprise loss in the semifinals of the Thailand Open last Saturday, had to work hard for the victory in his Japan debut.

"I started a few games love-30," said Nadal. "He played well. He was very aggressive. My serve was the worst it has been in the last 10 or 11 games and I was a little more tired than usual and not focused on every point."

In Thailand, Nadal lost to fellow Spaniard and eventual champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Nadal next faces Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic in the second round. Raonic beat France's Florent Serra 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

"I lost against him in doubles in Toronto," Nadal said. "He can play very well from the baseline and has a good serve so I have to be aggressive against him."

Second-seeded Andy Roddick downed Japanese wild card Tatsuma Ito 6-4, 6-3 to open his first tournament since the US Open.

Roddick dominated Ito with a powerful serve and topped the match in Ariake Colosseum with his eighth ace.

"It felt like a match coming off a long layoff," Roddick said. "There were some good things, some inconsistent things. Since New York, I've been trying to get in physical shape and I've been able to do that."

Roddick will next face the winner between Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Elsewhere, Serbian Viktor Troicki defeated Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-2.
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