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Posted at 1:06 a.m., Thursday, September 25, 2008

Tennis: Sela upsets No. 1 Ferrer; Roddick advances

Associated Press

BEIJING — No. 1 David Ferrer of Spain was knocked out of the China Open in the second round by Dudi Sela of Israel, 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday.

Ferrer, ranked No. 5 in the world and 87 places ahead of Sela, had a bye in the first round at the Beijing tournament after helping Spain defeat the United States last weekend in the Davis Cup semifinals in Madrid.

Second-seeded Andy Roddick, who lost to Ferrer in the Davis Cup, defeated fellow American Brendan Evans 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.

Ferrer didn't look for excuses, noting Sela had also played Davis Cup against Peru in Israel before traveling to China.

"I was maybe a little bit tired and didn't sleep well these last two nights," Ferrer said. "That's no excuse. He played better than me. It's not a good day for me."

Ferrer suggested he may have been drained by his grueling five-set win over Roddick last Friday.

"I didn't fight a lot because psychologically I'm not in a good moment now."

China's home favorite Zheng Jie also gained a berth in he quarterfinals, beating Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-1, 6-2. Zheng is the only Chinese woman remaining in the draw after four others lost in the first round.

In another early result, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia beat countrywoman Alla Kudryavtseva 6-2, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals.

The China Open is a combined ATP and WTA event, played together to make up for scheduling time lost during the Beijing Olympics.