Fourth-seeded Andy Roddick moved into the second round of the Qatar Open with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Ivan Navarro of Spain on Monday. Fifth-seeded Gael Monfils of France also advanced with 6-2, 6-2 win over Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic. "It's a good start to the year," said Roddick, who served eight aces.
Dominik Hrbaty upset James Blake 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (1) Monday to lead Slovakia to victory over the defending champion United States at the Hopman Cup. Hrbaty, coming back from an elbow injury that saw his ranking slide to No. 250, gave Slovakia a winning 2-0 edge after teammate Dominika Cibulkova beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 6-2 in the opening women's singles match.
Tuning up for the Australian Open and aiming for another big year, top-seeded Ana Ivanovic began her 2009 season Monday night with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic at the Brisbane International. Ivanovic reached the Australian Open final last season and held the No. 1 ranking for part of the year after winning the French Open.
Marin Cilic of Croatia and Rainer Schuettler of Germany advanced to the second round of the season-opening Chennai Open on Monday. The third-seeded Cilic needed only one break in each set to beat Alberto Martin of Spain 6-4, 6-4, and fifth-seeded Schuettler held on to beat Indian wild card Prakash Amritraj 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
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Top-seeded Elena Dementieva beat Taiwan's Chan Yung-jan 7-5, 6-3 Tuesday to advance to the second round of the ASB Classic women's tennis tournament. The Russian player, ranked fourth in the world, struggled in the first set, but settled into her game in the second, beating the unseeded Chan. "She was on fire at the beginning and put a lot of pressure on me," Dementieva said.
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Lei Clijsters, the father of tennis player Kim Clijsters and a former Belgium soccer international, died Sunday. He was 52. Derniere Heure newspaper in Belgium reported Clijsters died after a yearlong battle with lung cancer. He played 40 matches for Belgium's national team, participating in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups.
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In a strong statement leading to the Australian Open, Andy Murray has beaten Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on consecutive days. The Scotsman defeated the top-ranked Nadal 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 Saturday to capture the Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition and $250,000 winner-take-all prize. A day earlier in the semifinals, he topped the No.
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