World number two Rafael Nadal will test his status against
Chinese Taipei's Wang Yeu-Tzuoo when the
China Open ATP tournament main draw starts on hardcourt at the
Beijing Tennis Center on Monday.
Former world number one Carlos Moya, however, was handed a
nightmare draw, as the eighth-seeded Spaniard takes top Asian
netman Paradorn Srichaphan, ranked 42 currently in the world, in
the very first round matchups.
Sweden's Thomas Johansson, named the fourth seed here, will also
be given difficult time in the same quarter, as Germany's Rainer
Schuettler and Jarkko Nieminen from Finland both eye covetously on
a qualification to the last eight.
The top seed Nadal, who suffered an early exit at the ongoing US
Open after shockly beaten by American James Blake in the third
round, opens up proceedings on the Central Court.
Argentina's The Magician Guillermo Coria, seeded second here and
ranked eighth in the world, will take a lucky loser from the
qualification round and poses at the down quarter of the main draw
as one of the biggest threats to favorite Nadal, who has been known
as the new "King of Clay" after being crowned at this year's French
Open.
Third seed David Nalbandian, new generation to Argentine tennis
whose giant-killing run had brought down local favorite Lleyton
Hewitt at the quarter-finals of last January's Australian Open, has
to pass Dane Kristian Pless' challenge before booking a possible
quarter-final showdown with sixth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero from
Spain.
Ferrero will meet in the first round Lee Hyung-Taik, the top
tennis player of South Korea, while the seventh seed Mikhail
Youzhny of Russia takes a quarlifier in his opener.
China's Wang Yu Jr. and Sun Peng, entering the men's singles
main draw after being handed wildcards, will respectively post
their challenges on fifth seed Hrbaty and a lucky loser from the
qualification round.
On Saturday, five Chinese players reached the second round of
ATP China Open qualifiers which started in Beijing Tennis
Center.
In an all-Chinese first round match, Li Jingyi beat Bai Yang 6-3,
6-2. Bai 's unsteady service and weak forehand gifted Li a quick
advantage in the first set. Bai lost patience in the second set in
which he made several double-faults and unforced faults.?
In other matches, Chinese players Lu Hao and Yu Xinyuan automaticly
advanced to the second round as their opponents quit. Li Guangyu
from China defeated his compatriot Chen Xiaoyu 6-3, 6-1. Zeng
Shaoxuan eased past Sonchat Ratiwatana from Thailand 6-0, 6-2.
The annually tourney, which initiated a year ago, has been
slated from September 10 to 25 with a totally 500,000 US dollars
prize money for the ATP tournament.
(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2005)
