BEIJING - Ivan Ljubicic lead a seeded sweep into the
quarterfinals of the China Open on Thursday.
The top seed, Ljubicic defeated American Kevin Kim, 6-3, 6-4, to
reach the round of eight at the $475,000 hardcourt event.
Ljubicic, who was stunned in the first round of the U.S. Open by
Feliciano Lopez, next will play eighth-seeded Korean Hyung-Taik
Lee, who rallied past German Michael Berrer, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4),
7-6 (7-4).
Second seed Nikolay Davydenko also moved on after defeating
Slovenian qualifier Luka Gregorc, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. The Russian
reached the semifinals of the year's final major, losing to
eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets on Saturday.
Davydenko next will face No. 6 Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand,
who routed Japanese qualifier Satoshi Iwabuchi, 6-3, 6-1.