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Ljubicic wins
opener in Vienna tennis
VIENNA—Defending champion Ivan Ljubicic defeated Agustin Calleri 7-6
(3), 6-2 in the first round of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy on Tuesday.
Calleri made three unforced errors in the first set tiebreak and lost
his service twice in the second set.
"I am very happy that I played well," the top-seeded Ljubicic said. "I
felt some pressure coming back to Vienna as the titleholder, but things
went well in the second set."
The Croat will play Florian Mayer of Germany in the second round.
Second-seeded David Nalbandian also advanced after beating fellow
Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-2.
Nalbandian, who led 5-3 before wasting two first-set points in the
tiebreaker, hit 27 baseline winners in his first match since his
second-round exit at the U.S. Open last month.
"It's hard for me to play Juan Ignacio. We train a lot together, so he
knows my game very well," Nalbandian said. "I played well in the second
and third set. The rather slow surface worked in my favor."
Also, fourth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus advanced after beating
Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Baghdatis needed medical
treatment for muscle cramps in his right forearm twice in the final set,
but then broke his opponent two times to complete the victory after 2
hours, 22 minutes.
Spain's Carlos Moya beat compatriot Nicolas Almagro 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3),
though Almagro had 16 aces and lost his serve only once.
Qualifier Lukasz Kubot of Poland defeated Sebastien Grosjean of France
6-4, 6-3.
Wild card Stefan Koubek of Austria went through to the second round
after downing Germany's Denis Gremelmayr 6-1, 6-0 in less than 44
minutes.
Also, sixth-seeded Tommy Haas needed six set points in the first set
before defeating wild card Martin Fischer of Austria 7-6 (3), 6-2.—Agencies |