Defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated American qualifier Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-2 Wednesday in his opening match at the Madrid Masters, with Real Madrid soccer stars David Beckham and Raul part of the capacity crowd.
Nadal, seeded No. 2, didn't drop serve and saved his best for last by breaking Fish in the last game with a no-look, crosscourt forehand.
Four seeded players were eliminated in the second round: No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, No. 7 James Blake of the U.S., No. 12 Mario Ancic of Croatia and No. 16 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.
Belgium's Kristof Vliegen knocked out Blake 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5). The early exit means Blake will have to try and seal a berth in the Masters Cup at the Paris Masters in two weeks. Blake is winless in three visits to the Madrid Masters.
Blake, who had won his last two tournaments, led 3-1 and 6-5 in the final set. He finished with 16 unforced errors and only 12 winners.
``In the third set I had my chances, and when you have your chances you've got to take advantage,'' Blake said. ``When you're serving at 6-5, you really should win the match. It's not the way you want to go out.''
Britain's Andy Murray upset Ljubicic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Murray, one of only two players to beat top-ranked Roger Federer of Switzerland this year, broke Ljubicic for the second time in the final set to lead 5-3 before winning with his eighth ace.
``My volleying was the best part of my game and I enjoyed doing it today,'' Murray said. ``I didn't lose too many points because of it and am really happy about it because it's something I've been working on.''
Ferrero, the 2003 champion, lost 6-3, 6-2 to Sweden's Robin Soderling, who plays Federer in the third round. Robby Ginepri of the U.S. ousted Ancic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile converted his only break point in the final set to beat Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4; No. 11 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic beat Agustin Calleri of Argentina 7-6 (2), 6-3; No. 13 Tommy Haas of Germany defeated Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-3, 7-6 (6); and Novak Djokovic of Serbia downed Richard Gasquet of France 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-1.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
