Cypriot Baghdatis advances

Four of the top six seeds have made it through the first round of the Qatar Open unscathed, with Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis the biggest name to progress through to the second stage.

Third seed Baghdatis was pushed by German Philipp Kohlschreiber but triumphed in two sets, 6-4 7-5, while Russian Mikhail Youzhny made light work of Italian Daniele Bracciali to win through 7-5 6-3.

Swede Robin Soderling took little time to dispatch of Belgian Kristof Vliegen, who was downed 6-3 6-3, while Britain Andy Murray came from a set down to defeat Italian Fillippo Volandri, 4-6 2-6 6-4. Murray was happy with his result considering he is currently battling illness but still took time to praise the performance of his Italian opponent.

“It was tough playing the first match of the season. He’s a hard guy. He’s been consistent. I had to play well to beat him,” Murray told the tournament’s official website, www.qatartennis.org.

“I was coughing a lot, waking up all night. I had a blocked nose also. It was difficult to play today but I am happy with the way I fought.”

World No. 12 Baghdatis said he was pleased with his first performance of the 2007 season but said it was no indication of what his fans can expect from him come the Australian Open, where he was a finalist last year.

“It was not easy playing a game after two to three months break. I am happy that I won. Considering it was also the first match of the year, it was very tough,” said Baghdatis. “I can’t promise of winning at the Australian Open or do better than the last year. I can only say that I will do my best.”

In other matches, Belgian Christophe Rochus defeated Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-4 7-5, Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo knocked off local hope Sultan Khalfan 7-6 (7-5) 6-2, Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez dispatched of Italian Potito Starace 2-6 7-5 7-5 and Frenchman Gael Monfils triumphed over Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-4.

On Tuesday, top seed Nikolay Davydenko will be in action on centre court when he meets Korean Hyung-Taik Lee while Croatian Ivan Ljubicic will meet German qualifier Denis Gremelmayr.

First round results from the Qatar Open
3-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 6-4 7-5
4-Andy Murray (Great Britain) bt Fillipo Volandri (Italy) 4-6 6-2 6-4
5-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) bt Daniele Bracciali (Italy) 7-5 6-3
6-Robin Soderling (Sweden) bt Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-3 6-3
Christophe Rochus (Belgium) bt Alberto Martin (Spain) 6-4 7-5
Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (Spain) bt Sultan Khalfan (Qatar) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) bt Potito Starace (Italy) 2-6 7-5 7-5
Gael Monfils (France) bt Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-3 6-4

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