Nadal Pulls Leaving Ljubicic to Headline China OpenPosted on September 11, 2006 Ivan Ljubicic remained at the No. 3 ranking after his shocking exit in the first round at the US Open. This week the Croat attempts to reestablish his dominance and secure a spot at the year-end Masters Cup as the top seed at the China Open in Beijing.
Ljubicic took over the top standing in Beijing when world No. 2 Rafael Nadal pulled from the event citing an injured ankle, also blaming the problem for his early exit at the US Open. Joining Ljubicic among the seeded players are US Open semifinalist Nikolay Davydenko, Marcos Baghdatis, Mario Ancic back from a water sports accident, Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, and Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee. Opening-round matches include Ljubicic vs. the last man granted direct entry into the draw, No. 205 (at time of entry) Go Soeda of Japan; (8) Lee vs. Russian Igor Kunitsyn; (4) Ancic vs. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez; (6) Srichaphan vs. former Top 10er Rainer Schuettler, and Davydenko vs. fast-court specialist Kenneth Carlsen. In last year's final the top-seeded Nadal beat the No. 2-seeded Guillermo Coria 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. Michael Chang is the only multiple winner in the history of the Beijing event, capturing the title from 1993-95. |
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