Big names advance in China Open
Defending champion Marcos Baghdatis and top seed Tommy Robredo both advanced to the third round of the China Open with straight-set victories yesterday but a withdrawal of women's world No 1 Justine Henin disappointed fans and organizers.
Baghdatis, who won his first ATP title in Beijing last year, eased past Serbian Boris Pashanski 6-4, 6-4 while Robredo took 69 minutes to eliminate South African Rik De Voest 6-2, 6-4.
"It was a good game to start the first round," Robredo said. "I missed a few shots that were easy but ultimately it's important to get to the next round. I think my game will be there.
"I've come here to win the tournament and I will fight hard all the way."
Fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic qualified for the quarters in an emphatic 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Viktor Troicki in 62 minutes.
Playing in his second China Open, the Croatian big server barely broke into a sweat but still proved too solid for the 21-year-old Serbian.
"It was very easy, I started well and didn't make any mistakes," the world No 10 said. "I put a lot of pressure on him."
Ljubicic, seeking his third title of the season to boost his chances of making the year-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, will next face Baghdatis in the quarters.
Asian No 1 Lee Hyung-taik beat German Bjorn Phau 7-6, 6-1 and is the last Asian left in the last eight of the draw.
The sixth-seeded South Korean, a semifinalist here last year, needed a 7-4 tiebreak win to go a set up but then rattled off the first four games of the second and never looked back.
Big-serving Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who on Monday ended his five-game losing streak after Wimbledon, dismantled compatriot Paul Capdeville 6-1, 6-2 in the evening session.
Bad a blow to the tournament came when Henin announced she had to withdraw because of a respiratory infection.
"Justine went to the doctor in Brussels about her reoccurring respiratory asthma and the doctor told her to take 3 weeks off," her agent Ken Meyerson said in a statement.
"Justine had asked me to negotiate a flight back for her sparring partner and for an extra hotel room that she certainly gave me every indication that not only was she going to play, she was enthusiastic to participate, especially with the Olympics in 2008," he added.
Henin, the newly crowned US Open champion, will also skip the Stuttgart Open depending on her health.
Other top players have confirmed their participation while Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Dementieva will arrive in Beijing on September 14 and 15 respectively.
World No 3 Jelena Jankovic, a quarterfinalist in Beijing last year, will enter the tournament courtesy of a wild card.
(China Daily 09/13/2007 page22)
