The fifth-ranked Spaniard and defending champion was hardly troubled for the second straight day as he saved five of six break chances and converted four himself, including the lone break of the second set.

It was a tough day for Canadian players as Milos Raonic bowed out after a 6-4, 6-4 first-round loss to Croatia’s Marian Cilic. Break points were hard to come by as Cilic saved his serve twice and broke Raonic a pair of times to win it.
 

Britain’s Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Swiss Indoors tournament in Basel because of a “right gluteal strain,” organizers said on Wednesday.

World No. 3 Murray was a late wildcard entry into the event and was seeded second.

The Scot completed a stunning hat-trick of titles in as many weeks on the Asian swing of the ATP tour after winning the Shanghai Masters on Oct. 16. He also won in Bangkok and Tokyo.

Murray has already qualified for the end of season World Tour Finals, featuring the top eight players in the world, which start in London on Nov. 20.


Meantime, Petra Kvitova will have a chance to cap her remarkable season by leading the Czech Republic to its first Fed Cup win in 23 years this weekend against a Russia team struggling with injuries.

Kvitova is coming off her first WTA Championships title that lifted her to No. 2 in the world rankings, and is expected to play singles along with Lucie Safarova for the Czech team.

“I know that I’m No. 1 and there will be pressure on me,” Kvitova said at a news conference on Wednesday. “But still we have a great team and hopefully we will get three points. We will do our best this weekend.”

Kvitova started the year ranked outside the top 30 but won Wimbledon for her first Grand Slam title and beat Victoria Azarenka in the WTA Championships final in Istanbul on Sunday.

Russia, meanwhile, is still trying to determine who will be its No. 1 singles player, as seventh-ranked Vera Zvonareva has inflammation in her right shoulder which could jeopardize her participation in the final. Russia also has Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Maria Kirilenko in the team.

Zvonareva suffered from pain in her shoulder and was close to retire before losing on the same court in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup two weeks ago. In Istanbul last week, the Russian won only one of her four matches.

“First of all, one’s serve suffers from such an injury,” Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev said. “But it’s useless to play against the Czechs without a solid serve. You have to hold your serve first. And Kvitova will hold hers.”

Tarpischev said doctors are working with Zvonareva but “we will have to wait for the outcome.”

Tarpischev hopes that a slow hard court at the Olympic indoor stadium will benefit his team and slow down Kvitova’s speedy game.

“It will be easier to cope with her (Kvitova’s) speed and vary the height of the ball’s bounce,” Tarpischev said. “The task will be not only to try to overplay her with the power of the shot but beat her tactically as well. If we are able to do this then not only Zvonareva can beat Kvitova.”

The Czechs might have one more advantage — both Kvitova and Safarova are left-handers.

“I think it’s always an advantage in tennis and that’s the main reason why they (Kvitova and Safarova) are here,” Czech captain Petr Pala said. “And hopefully it’s going to work again.”

Kvitova won all four of her singles matches this year as the Czechs beat Slovakia and Belgium on the way to the final.