Ljubicic Begins Title Quest in Race to Shanghai

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　　Beijing, China

　　September 11, 2007

　　Fourth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic began his quest for a place at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Japanese wild card Kei Nishikori at the China Open on Tuesday.

　　The Croat hit 10 aces and won 24 of 27 points on first serve during the first round encounter. Ljubicic now has a 2-0 career record against Japanese players. Last year on debut, he beat Go Soeda in the Beijing first round en route to a quarterfinal exit (l. to Lee).

　　Ljubicic is currently No. 10 in the ATP 2007 Race with 303 points. With Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic already qualified for the circuit-ending finale in Shanghai, five singles berths remain up for grabs. Ljubicic has a 38-18 season record, with two ATP titles coming at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Doha.

　　Nishikori, currently No. 257 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, competed in his first ATP tournament at Los Angeles in July and advanced to the Indianapolis quarterfinals (l. to Tursunov) the following week. .

　　Ljubicic will next meet Serbian Viktor Troicki in the second round. Troicki hit seven aces and eight double faults and held his nerve to beat Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and six minutes.

　　Seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to the second round after his opponent Rohan Bopanna, an Indian qualifier, retired with a side strain. Tsonga was leading 6-3, 1-0 at the time.

　　Meanwhile, Nicolas Kiefer continued his comeback from a left wrist injury that kept him off the ATP circuit for over a year. The German wild card, returning to the city for the first time since 1997, saved three break points he faced to beat Dudi Sela of Israel 6-2, 6-3 in 75 minutes.

　　Croatian Marin Cilic fired 10 aces and won 72 per cent of service points for a hard-fought 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 win over Rainer Schuettler of Germany in one hour and 58 minutes. Cilic is playing his first ATP tournament since Umag in July.

　　Earlier in the day South African Rik de Voest won his third ATP-level match of the season in beating qualifier Woong-Sun Jun 6-4, 7-6(4). Serbian Boris Pashanski knocked out Yen-Hsun Lu 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-6(6) in two hours and 44 minutes.