Ljubicic advances at Croatia Open

UMAG, Croatia, July 15 (UPI) -- Ivan Ljubicic and Guillermo Canas claimed first-round victories Tuesday at the Croatia Open.

Ljubicic, seeded fifth, coasted past Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-2. The sixth-seeded Canas was a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Nicolas Massu.

Eighth-seeded Marcos Daniel outfought Carlos Berlocq 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Viktor Troicki, Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Maximo Gonzalez were also first-round winners.

Top-seeded Fernando Verdasco will be in action in Wednesday's second round along with No. 3 seed and defending champion Carlos Moya.