Intro:

First round wins for Marin Cilic, Victor Troicki and Vasek Pospisil in Beijing on Monday (29th September).

Script:

US Open Champion Marin Cilic faced Yan Bai in the opening round of the China Open in Beijing on Monday.

His triumph at Flushing Meadows earlier this month saw him move up the rankings - and therefore take the number four seed here.

Nevertheless, the Croatian showed he was equal to the increased pressure.

In his first match since winning the US Open, he saved all four of the break points he faced and was clinical on his own serve as he swept past wildcard Bai 6-3 6-4.

A high quality first round tie saw Viktor Troicki of Serbia up against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.

The pair had faced each other six times in the past and were perfectly balanced with three wins a piece.

But wildcard Troicki dominated from the onset against the Russian.

He booked his place in the second round with a 6-3 6-4 win after just 76 minutes on court.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil then used his big serve to good effect in his first round match.

He fired down ten aces and converted four of his seven break points to ease past Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3.

His win sets up a potential second round clash with world number one Novak Djokovic.

The Serb has lifted the trophy in Beijing on all four previous appearances at the tournament.