Former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero withstood a barrage of big serves from fiery Russian challenger Alexandre Kudryavtsev, while local hopes wilted in the first round of the China Open on Tuesday. The Spaniard capitalized on a string of unforced errors from Kudryavtsev to pull off a 6-4, 6-3 win in only 69 minutes. “I didn't know him in the beginning ... I was asking players and they told me he's the kind of player who hits the ball very hard all the time,” said Ferrero. “He was serving very good all the time but at important moments ... he felt the pressure a little bit.” Having surrendered the first set after cursing himself and the line judges, 225th-ranked Kudryavtsev calmed down to break Ferrero early in the second. He took a 3-1 lead after firing a number of searing winners from behind the baseline. But two double faults in his next service game and a raft of unforced errors put paid to the fight-back, and allowed Ferrero to break back twice and serve out the match with an ace. The former French Open champion, who is chasing his first title since winning the Madrid Masters in 2003, has suffered a number of injury setbacks in 2008 and retired hurt at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Fellow Spaniard, sixth seed Tommy Robredo, advanced to the second round after easing past countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-5. In the women's competition, four local favorites disappointed home fans when they were bundled out in the first round. Chinese number one Li Na squandered a chance to win the second set and was beaten 6-1, 7-6 by Italy's Francesca Schiavone. Former Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles champion Yan Zi lost 6-3, 6-4 to Japan's Ai Sugiyama, France's Alize Cornet beat Zhang Shuai 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 and Peng Shuai capped off a miserable day for the host nation when she succumbed 7-5, 6-4 to Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva. “Today, I think I was in a hurry and I made many faults,” Li said. “I'm a little bit afraid of anticipating upcoming matches,” she added, referring to her first round defeats both here and at last week's Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Soderling breezes thru In Bangkok, sixth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling advanced to the second round of the Thailand Open after overpowering Pakistan's Aisamul Haq Qureshi 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday. Soderling served up 14 aces and took just over an hour to get past qualifier Qureshi, who struggled with the Swede's powerful returns throughout the match. Soderling, 24, said he expected to feel rusty having not played since the US Open four weeks ago. “It's always tough to play the first round in every tournament,” he told reporters. “I was training at home and feel well prepared for indoor season. It's nice to play again. “(Qureshi) played better than I expected. He served well on this surface which is a bit fast. He didn't give me the rhythm.” Seventh-seed Marat Safin of Russia was beaten in a late match by German Philipp Petzschner 6-4, 7-6.– Reuters __
