Ljubicic reaches second round

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:27

The number six seed won a tight first set 7-6 (7-2) but lost the second 3-6 to his Romanian opponent before clinching the third set 6-4 in two hours and 23 minutes.

World number 53 Ljubicic, who sent down 17 aces during the match, saved five break points on serve in the deciding set while converting on one of his three opportunities.

Number eight seed Christophe Rochus became the first player to reach the second round when he claimed a three-set victory over Frenchman Nicolas Devilder in a rain-affected match.

Rain had stopped play at 5-5 in the deciding set on Monday but the Belgian returned to take out a 6-3 6-7 7-5 victory.

The game featured 12 breaks of serve with the world number 59 converted seven of 21 break points and saving 11 of 16 on his own serve in a match just a minute short of three hours long.

Seventh seed Arnaud Clement had a regulation 6-1 6-4 win over Santiago Ventura.

Marcel Granollers had a 6-0 2-6 6-2 victory over Serbian wild card Filip Krajinovic and will now face fifth seed Vicktor Troicki who had a 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory over American Sam Querrey.

Dominik Hrbaty had a topsy-turvy match against Lukasz Kubot but prevailed 7-6 0-6 6-0.

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