LYON, France (Reuters) - Ivan Ljubicic's hopes of qualifying for the Masters Cup suffered a blow when he lost 7-6, 7-5 to American Vince Spadea in the first round of the Lyon indoor tournament on Wednesday. The Croatian fourth seed said he was still feeling exhausted after his five-set defeat by Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the final of the Madrid Masters on Sunday. "I haven't had enough time to recover from my week in Madrid. I lacked energy. I gave everything I had but it was not enough," Ljubicic said. "I was not very optimistic after the draw here. I knew that Spadea was one of the few players on the circuit capable of returning my serves well. He confirmed it today," he said. The defeat means that Ljubicic, ranked joint eighth in the ATP Champions Race with Russian Marat Safin, failed to score any points in Lyon. The Croat now needs a good performance at the Paris Open next week to secure a berth for the Masters Cup in Shanghai. Only the top eight in the Champions Race qualify. "I'm going to go to Paris on Thursday. It's going to be exciting. There are still several of us who can qualify for the Masters Cup," he said. "As I'll be one of the top eight seeds (in Paris) I won't enter the tournament until Tuesday or Wednesday. That will leave me time to rest. I'm looking forward to the draw," he said. --

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