SHANGHAI — Tenth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia moved into the second round of the Shanghai Masters Monday with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Lukasz Kubot of Poland. Cilic served eight aces and broke Kubot four times to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 33 minutes. American player Sam Querrey also advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Chinese wild-card entry Li Zhe. The 22nd-ranked Querrey jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead in the first set, then won the final five games of the second to close out the match in just 59 minutes. Querrey served 11 aces and converted five of his 10 break points. “I thought I served great,” Querrey said. “I thought I returned well, and I took advantage of the break points. That was the key.” Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria beat Pablo Andujar of Spain 7-5, 6-3 to set up a meeting with second-seeded Novak Djokovic in the next round. Djokovic, who is coming off his third title at the China Open in Beijing, and the other seven top-seeded players have byes in the first round. Dimitrov earned the only two breaks of the match, including in the fourth game of the second set to take a decisive lead. Also Monday, Tommy Robredo of Spain defeated qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia 7-6 (4), 6-4; Benoit Paire of France ousted qualifier Philipp Petzschner of Germany 7-6 (2), 6-4; and ninth-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain lost to 34-year-old Tommy Haas of Germany 4-6, 7-6 (4) 6-2. “He served extremely well and had a lot of chances in the second set. But I was hanging tough and finally took the second set,” Haas said. “Once I broke serve in the third set the momentum shifted my way.” Stosur thru in Japan
Top-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia advanced to the second round of the Japan Open by beating Erika Sema of Japan 6-4, 6-2 Monday. Stosur, who won the tournament in Osaka in 2009, had five aces and converted five of six break points at Utsubo Tennis Center. The ninth-ranked Stosur reached the semifinals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo earlier this month and is seeking her first title of the year. Also, Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan defeated third-seeded Christina McHale of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (5), and Jamie Hampton of the US beat Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-3, 6-2. Pauline Parmentier of France, Casey Dellacqua of Australia, Heather Watson of Britain and Misaki Doi of Japan also advanced to the second round. — Agencies
