MADRID, 19 October 2006 — Andy Murray stunned world No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic 6- 4, 3-6, 6-3 Wednesday in the second round of the Madrid Masters to delay the Croatian’s likely ascension to a spot in the year-end final.

Murray claimed the biggest scalp of the week so far at the Madrid arena as he defeated last weekend’s champion at Vienna.

The British teenager forced Ljubicic to wait another week to see if he qualifies for November’s Masters Cup in Shanghai, where he would have needed a final to have clinched at the weekend behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Ljubicic lost the Madrid title match a year ago, leading Nadal two sets to love before the Spaniard turned the momentum in dramatic fashion.

Ljubicic was not the only titleholder from last week to crash at the first hurdle after a bye.

Stockholm champion James Blake was dispatched 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) by Belgian Vliegen yesterday. Moscow winner Nikolay Davydenko was hoping to buck the losing trend as he faced Swede Joachim Johansson.

Struggling Thai Paradorn Srichaphan lost his second match to Fernando Gonzalez six years after dropping his first in a 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 exit.

The 27-year-old must now rally in his final 2006 events in order to avoid a negative season finish after dropping to 27-30. He first lost to Gonzalez in Florida in 2000.

Paradorn, a semifinalist over the past month in Beijing and at home in Bangkok, was unable to take the match by the throat, missing a chance to claim the early lead as he failed to serve out the opening set.

Paradorn converted on only a fifth of his ten break pint chances, while striking 53 unforced errors and losing serve four times in 2 hours, 24 minutes. Gonzalez played and lost his first final of the season against world No. 3 Ljubicic in Vienna.

American Robby Ginepri beat Croatian 12th seed Mario Ancic 7-6 (7- 5), 7-6 (7-5) for a place in the third round, a result which put provisional tenth Ancic’s Masters Cup campaign in danger. American qualifier Mardy Fish was taking on titleholder Nadal later, with local media reporting possible foot problems for the second seed.

Czech Tomas Berdych and German Tommy Haas also both won.

Mauresmo Overcomes

Defiant Stosur in Zurich

World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo struggled to overcome Australia’s Samantha Stosur 7-6, 6-3 yesterday to secure a place in the quarterfinals of the Zurich Open.

The Frenchwoman has found wins difficult to come by in Zurich, with only one victory from three previous appearances.

Although Mauresmo began in lively fashion by holding serve to love, Stosur quickly settled and proved to be a stubborn opponent.

After crushing the Australian 6-0, 6-0 in Miami and beating her again in straight sets at Wimbledon this year, Mauresmo was made to work hard as Stosur hammered a total of 11 aces. Stosur was three times 30-0 down in the first set and it was often her serve that pulled her out of trouble.

Her efforts were almost rewarded when she held two break points for a 4-2 lead but Mauresmo fought back and eventually took the tiebreak 7-4. Stosur applied less pressure in the second set which was effectively decided by a single break of serve at 3-2 when she netted a backhand volley.

Mauresmo’s next opponent will be Daniela Hantuchova after the Slovak defeated Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 7-6, 6-2.