Clement crashes out

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:24

The tone was set for the marathon encounter in the first set, which the Croatian claimed on a tie-breaker.

And though Frenchman Clement battled back to claim the second, Ljubicic eventually triumphed in just under three hours.

There were no such problems for the fourth and fifth seeds, Victor Hanescu and Florent Serra, who claimed straight-sets victories over Steve Darcis and Thomaz Bellucci respectively.

Also progressing on Monday were Frederico Gil, a three-set winner over Alberto Martin, and Ivan Navarro, the beneficiary of Sergiy Stakhovsky’s second-set retirement.

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By Tim Farthing

About the Author / Tim Farthing

Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.