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Mayer wins Shanghai opener

Shanghai - Germany's Florian Mayer has enjoyed a comfortable win against Chinese wildcard Wu Di on the opening day of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, while Argentina's Carlos Berlocq also progressed to the second round.

World number 41 Mayer broke his 22-year-old opponent -- ranked more than 200 places below him -- twice in the first set at the Qizhong stadium, and another break early in the second set proved decisive as he eased to a 6-3, 6-3 victory in 68 minutes.

Berlocq, ranked 45th, recovered from losing the first set to beat Russian Dmitry Tursunov 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The Czech Republic's Lukas Rosol earlier became the first player to make it to the second round, fighting back from a second-set slump to beat Julien Benneteau of France 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

In the late match, Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, ranked 20th, retired when trailing 5-2 to Spain's Pablo Andujar.

Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic, who beat Rafael Nadal in the final of the China Open on Sunday, has a first-ound bye along with the other top eight seeds including Nadal, David Ferrer and Roger Federer.

Despite the defeat in Beijing -- Nadal's first since his shock early Wimbledon exit -- the Spaniard is guaranteed to return to the top of the world rankings on Monday and is chasing a record sixth Masters title in a single season.

Fifth seed Federer, desperate for points as he tries to reach the season-ending World Tour Finals in London, faces the daunting prospect of a quarter-final with Djokovic. But he must first get past either former world number one Lleyton Hewitt or Italy's Andreas Seppi.

"It's a difficult first match for me. It would be great to play Lleyton," said Federer.

"We go back a long way and I remember playing him in Shanghai when the first Masters Cup was here, he beat me in the semi-finals and went on to win the tournament. We have had some amazing matches. Even if I play Seppi, that will also be tough."

Djokovic will meet Davis Cup team-mate Janko Tipsarevic or Spain's Marcel Granollers in his opener, while second seed Nadal will expect to meet Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine.

Two-time former champion Andy Murray, who lost to Djokovic in last year's final, misses the tournament following back surgery.

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