 Robredo lost five games in a row in the deciding set |
Tommy Robredo's hopes of clinching a place at the season-ending Masters Cup suffered a blow when he lost in the first round of the St Petersburg Open. The Spaniard, the second seed for the Russian event, crashed out 6-3 2-6 6-4 to Australian veteran Wayne Arthurs.
Robredo's defeat confirmed Ivan Ljubicic's place in next month's Masters Cup in Shanghai.
Meanwhile, top seed Nikolay Davydenko boosted his Masters Cup chances by beating Fabrice Santoro 6-3 6-1.
Defending champion Johansson of Sweden defeated Frank Dancevic 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 and Croatia's Mario Ancic, the third seed, overwhelmed Paul Goldstein 7-5 6-1.
Seventh-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny knocked out unseeded German Rainer Schuettler 7-6 6-4 in the last match on centre court.
Robredo said: "It was a tough game today. It's always difficult to play Arthurs indoors - he is a hard server.
"But I lost because of my own serious errors. I had too many in the third set."
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