NONE of the three Chinese wildcards survived the first round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Monday, though local boy Wu Di’s promising performance against Marin Cilic gave fans at the Qizhong Tennis Center something to cheer.

    Cilic won the last match of the day 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), Shanghai Daily reported. However, the 14th seed was not in his element earlier, allowing Wu to break him twice for a 4-2 advantage in the first set. Wu then held serve to claim the set on his second set point.

    The Croatian found some pace back in the second set, making use of his powerful first serve. He broke Wu in the sixth game, which was enough.

    Another Chinese player Bai Yan lost 0-6, 1-6 to Argentine veteran Leonardo Mayer while Bai’s Nanjing pal Zhang Ze fell to Martin Klizan of Slovakia 6-7 (8), 2-6 on center court.

    As China’s top-ranked male player, Zhang pleaded for more support from sponsors at the post-match press conference.

    “What I need most is money,” said the 25-year-old. “I am only training with one foreign coach, and getting no help from others, not to mention masseur or physio. The Jiangsu tennis team pays his wages, and I cover his expenses to go to matches with me. I think my ranking is an obstacle. I need to raise it to attract more sponsors.”

    Zhang is currently 182 in the ATP world rankings.  (SD-Agencies)