Thursday, October 11, 2012

Ignoring death threats, Federer wins in Shanghai

Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after defeating Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan in their second round men's singles match of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Wednesday Oct. 10, 2012. Federer won 6-3, 7-5. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after defeating Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan in their second round men's singles match of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Wednesday Oct. 10, 2012. Federer won 6-3, 7-5. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a shot to Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan during thir second round match of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. Roger Federer won 6-3, 7-5. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

French soccer player Nicolas Anelka of Shanghai Shenhua, left, watches as Roger Federer of Switzerland faces Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan during the second round men's singles tennis match of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Wednesday Oct. 10, 2012. Roger Federer won 6-3, 7-5. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a shot to Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan during their second round match of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Wednesday Oct. 10, 2012. Federer won 6-3, 7-5. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns a shot to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during their second round men's singles match of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Wednesday Oct. 10, 2012. Djokovic won 6-3, 6-2. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

(AP) ? Roger Federer ignored recent death threats from a Chinese blogger and won his opening match at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday, beating qualifier Lu Yen-Hsun 6-3, 7-5 in the second round.

Federer said he was aware that the blogger had recently issued an apology.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion has had heavy security surrounding him at all times since arriving in Shanghai.

"I felt fine" Federer said. "There was maybe one quick thought. I saw one of the bodyguards outside of the court. I thought, still around, obviously. I have bodyguards every time I play a match on a center court, which is normal.

"Once the match started, got underway, I never thought about it again."

Federer saved the one break point he faced and broke serve once in each set to secure his path to the third round. He'll next face 13th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka.

"I thought it was a good match for me," Federer said. "Obviously, not having been broken is a good thing early on in a tournament. You hope it sets a trend for more to come."

Novak Djokovic also advanced, beating Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-2. Two-time defending champion Andy Murray received a walkover into the third round after the withdrawal of Florian Mayer because of a rib injury.

Sam Querrey of the United States rallied past 14th-seeded Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in another second-round match.

Djokovic won the China Open in Beijing last week for his fourth title of the year and 32nd of his career. He has won 66 matches this season, the most of any player on tour.

Djokovic didn't offer Dimitrov a break-point opportunity and never lost more than one point in any service game. He also served four games at love.

"Very pleased with my serving in Beijing and obviously the first match today," Djokovic said. "So that's something that I've been working on, obviously. Relying on the serve in today's tennis is a big advantage. So I try to get as many free points as possible. It helped me a lot to defeat my opponent."

If Djokovic wins in Shanghai and Federer loses before the quarterfinals, the Serb would reclaim the No. 1 ranking next week.

Murray has a 9-0 record after winning finals against David Ferrer last year and Federer in 2010. The third-ranked player from Scotland also won the Olympic gold medal at the London Games and a title in Brisbane this year.

Murray had short notice about Mayer's injury and withdrawal.

"I went to the gym this morning in the hotel, and he was in the gym at the same time," Murray said. "I didn't know until 15, 20 minutes ago."

Fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Benoit Paire 7-6 (7), 7-5 in an all-French match.

For the second straight day at the tournament, a match went to three tiebreaker sets. Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus upset 12th-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3).

Nishikori won the opening set against Querrey before fading. He sought a medical timeout for a right ankle injury that he sustained last week when he won the Japan Open.

"It's disappointing, but I was close to a win even with this injury," Nishikori said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-10-10-TEN-Shanghai-Masters/id-e9ed3c70ce4c41fe9e7014818b1e6373

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