Ljubicic eases into China Open quarter-finals

BEIJING, Sept 12 (Reuters) Fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic swept into the quarter-finals of the China Open today with an emphatic 6-1 6-1 win over Viktor Troicki.

Playing his second match in less than 24 hours, the energetic Croatian found his target with less than half of his first serves but still had too much class for the 21-year-old Serbian and took the win on his first match point after 65 minutes.

''It was very easy, I started well and didn't make any mistakes,'' the world number 12 told reporters. ''I put a lot of pressure on him.'' Ljubicic, who is looking for his third title of the season to boost his chances of making a return to China for the Masters Cup in November, will next face defending champion Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus or another Serbian, Boris Pashanski.

''I'm a professional player and I'm used to it,'' he said of his quick turnaround. ''I can play five or six days in a row.'' Earlier, third seed Tommy Robredo finally got his campaign underway with an equally straightforward 6-2 6-4 victory over German Denis Gremelmayr.

The 25-year-old Spaniard sealed victory with an ace to complete the first round and set up a match against South African Rik De Voest for a place in the quarter-finals.

''It was a good game to start the first round,'' Robredo said.

''I've come here to win the tournament and I will fight hard all the way.'' Asian number one Lee Hyung-taik beat German Bjorn Phau 7-6 6-1 to ensure the continent will have representation in the last eight of the tournament.

The sixth seeded South Korean, a semi-finalist here last year, needed a 7-4 tiebreak win to go a set up but then rattled off the first four games of the second and never looked back.

REUTERS BJR ND1522