Ljubicic defeats Youzhny in first round of China Open
Mikhail Youzhny’s winning streak has come to an end at the China Open in Beijing, with the Russian defeated by Ivan Ljubicic in the opening round.
Youzhny had won the title at the Malaysian Open on the weekend – a result that followed his semi-final finish at the US Open – but the efforts of doing so may have taken their toll on the seventh seed, who was defeated 6-3, 7-6(3) by the 17th ranked Ljubicic in one hour and 45 minutes today.
Defending champion and top seed Novak Djokovic made short work of Chinese wildcard Mao-Xin Gong in his first-round match, winning it 6-1, 6-3 to set up a second-round clash against America’s Mardy Fish, who won his opening match against Djokovic’s Serbian Davis Cup teammate Janko Tipsarevic in straight sets.
Andy Murray won in his first match since that disappointing third-round defeat by Stanislas Wawrinka at the US Open, the second seed cruising past qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes.
Murray, who is making his debut at the China Open this year, will now play Spain’s Albert Montanes in the second round.
Also winning through on Tuesday was eighth seed David Ferrer, who defeated Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-1, while Marin Cilic won his second-round match against Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 6-2.
World No. 18 Marcos Baghdatis, however, was an early casualty at the tournament, the Cypriot defeated 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday by the Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov in his opening-round match.
Dolgopolov will now play Ljubicic in the second round.
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