Posted at 7:05 a.m., Friday, September 14, 2007
Tennis: Defending champ Baghdatis loses in China Open
Associated Press
BEIJING — Defending champion Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus was knocked out of the China Open today by Ivan Ljubicic of Russia.Ljubicic snapped a three-match losing streak against Baghdatis, the fifth seed, with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5) win in two hours and 28 minutes.
Ljubicic won despite winning just seven points on returns of Baghdatis' first serve.
He plays second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez in the semifinals on Saturday.
Gonzalez survived three rain delays to beat sixth seed Lee Hyung-Taik, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, in two hours and 24 minutes.
Third-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain also advanced to the semifinals, defeating Russian No. 8 seed Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-1 in 66 minutes.
Robredo will play German Nicolas Kiefer, who beat Marin Cilic of Croatia, 6-3, 7-5.
Cilic knocked top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko out of the tournament in the second round.
