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Argentinian veteran David Nalbandian defeated Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-4 on Monday to book a second-round clash with world No. 4 Andy Murray at the ATP Cincinnati Masters.
As this hardcourt US Open tuneup for both men and women gathered steam, Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela and American Ryan Harrison were battling for the dubious distinction of a second-round meeting with world number one and men’s top seed Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian extended his lead atop the rankings released on Monday after his victory in the Montreal Masters on Sunday—a victory that gave him his ninth title of 2011 and made him the first man to win five elite Masters titles in the same season.
Djokovic and the rest of the top eight men’s seeds have first-round byes, as do the top eight women, who are led by world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
In early WTA action, Russian Ekaterina Makarova set up a second-round meeting with second-seeded compatriot Vera Zvonareva with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Israel’s Shahar Peer defeated Wimbledon semi-finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to set up a second-round clash with third-seeded Victora Azarenka of Belarus.
Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova, ranked 139th in the world, crushed 42nd-ranked Polona Hercog 6-0, 6-0 to set up a meeting with fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova.
Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded 14th and trying to bounce back after a first round exit in Toronto last week, defeated US qualifier Jill Craybas 6-3, 6-4.
In other early matches, unseeded Italian Fabio Fognini upset 14th-seeded Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-1, the 38th-ranked Fognini’s first victory over the 16th-ranked Serbian in three attempts.
Bulgarian wild card Grigor Dimitrov advanced to a second-round clash with fifth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan.
Roddick loses cool in Kohlschreiber upset
An angry and frustrated Andy Roddick lost his cool as he crashed out of the Cincinnati Open in the first round on Monday, suffering a three-set loss to 47th-ranked German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Kohlschreiber advanced with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 victory but 15th ranked Roddick left the court complaining to the umpire after a bad-tempered display, where he petulantly smashed his racket and fired the ball into the crowd.
Roddick, who continues to be dogged by injury troubles, was given a warning after throwing down his racket at the loss of the second set and whacked the ball into the stands after double-faulting in the third set’s second game.
The American was handed a penalty point for the incident, which gave the break to Kohlschreiber and Roddick, making frequent comments to the umpire, never regained his composure.