SHANGHAI — Frenchman Richard Gasquet became the first high-profile casualty at the Shanghai Masters Tuesday, swiftly followed out of the exit door by compatriot Gilles Simon as organizers scrambled to keep the storm-hit event on track. Drenching rains, which flooded streets near the venue — the lingering effects of Typhoon Fitow — forced a switch to indoor courts at the Qizhong Tennis Center, with tournament chiefs attempting to make up for lost match time the previous day. Ninth-seed Gasquet's tame 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Vasek Pospisil deals a heavy blow to his hopes of reaching next month's World Tour Finals in London, which feature the season's top eight players. Gasquet is currently ninth in the Race to London. Canada's Pospisil, ranked 43rd in the world, broke in the fourth game of the first set and again at the start of the second in a match lasting 69 minutes, with the Frenchman unable to muster a single break point. Simon, the 13th seed, was also a first-round loser, slipping to a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to countryman Benoit Paire. But Japan's Kei Nishikori reversed the slide for the seeds, comfortably seeing off the challenge of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4. Canadian 10th seed Milos Raonic won his late evening match against Michal Przysiezny 6-4, 6-4. Shanghai Tuesday saw its greatest daily average rainfall since 1961, web portal East Day reported, citing municipal weather authorities. From 8 p.m. Monday until noon Tuesday, the city received 15.3 centimeters (6.02 inches) of rain. The wet weather meant a number of changes to the schedule throughout the day, with doubles matches postponed in an effort to complete all the first round matches before the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal make their entrance. Veteran Lleyton Hewitt earlier lost 6-4, 6-2 to Andreas Seppi, missing out on the chance of a second round match-up against old rival and fifth seed Roger Federer. Among the other winners Tuesday were Spanish seeds Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro.The top eight seeds all have a bye into the second round. Lisicki, Date-Krumm advance In Osaka, Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany outlasted Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 7-5, 7-6 (1) to reach the second round of the Japan Open Tuesday. Lisicki struggled with a right wrist injury after making her first Grand Slam singles final, and has yet to win more than two matches in a row. She hit five aces and took advantage of eight double faults by Scheepers to set up a second-round match against Polona Hercog of Slovenia, who beat Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Also, Vania King of the US ousted fourth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy 3-6, 7-5, 6-0, and Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm dispatched seventh-seeded Laura Robson of Britain 6-4, 6-4. Other winners included No. 6-seeded Madison Keys of the US and No. 9 Kristina Mladenovic of France. Giorgi beats Goerges In Linz, Camila Giorgi of Italy upset last year's finalist Julia Goerges of Germany 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the Generali Ladies Tuesday. The 105th-ranked Giorgi, who won three qualifying matches to reach the main draw, avoided break points and converted the second match point on her serve. Giorgi next plays fifth-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, who rallied to beat 17-year-old Donna Vekic of Croatia 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Also, seeded players Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia reached the second round. No. 4 Suarez Navarro defeated Kristyna Pliskova of Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3, and No. 7 Cibulkova came from behind to beat Annika Beck of Germany 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. — Agencies
