July 09, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 5, 1429

STUTTGART (Germany), July 8: Shortly after Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Stuttgart Cup, Albert Montanes of Spain upset seventh-seeded Jose Acasuso 6-3, 7-6 (5) on Monday in the first round.

Nadal was the defending champion at the clay-court event.

The field, hit by several other late withdrawals, is now led by No 11-ranked Nicolas Almagro of Spain and No 15 Richard Gasquet of France.

Two Germans who live near the tennis courts advanced into the second round with wins. Michael Berrer beat Eric Prodon of France 6-3, 6-4 and Andreas Beck beat training partner Daniel Brands 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Also, Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina beat Evgeny Korolev of Russia 6-3, 7-5 and Oscar Hernandez won a Spanish duel against Santiago Ventura 6-1, 6-4.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

First round: Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) bt Santiago Giraldo (Colombia) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(11); Michael Berrer (Germany) bt Eric Prodon (France) 6-3, 6-4; Albert Montanes (Spain) bt 7-Jose Acasuso (Argentina) 6-3, 7-6(5); Oscar Hernandez (Spain) bt Santiago Ventura (Spain) 6-1, 6-4; Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) bt Evgeny Korolev

(Russia) 6-3, 7-5; Andreas Beck (Germany) bt Daniel Brands (Germany) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

ANDREEV, CANAS ADVANCE

GSTAAD (Switzerland): Former finalist Igor Andreev beat Marcos Daniel of Brazil 6-4, 7-5 in his opening match at the Swiss Open on Monday.

Andreev, the 2004 runner-up back as the seventh seed, broke Daniel once in each set.

The only other seed in action, No 8 Guillermo Canas, overcame Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic 7-6 (9), 6-3.

Canas lined up a second-round match with Kristof Vliegen of Belgium, who defeated Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 6-3, 6-4.

The tournament top seed was world No 10 and local star Stanislas Wawrinka, who will face fellow Swiss Robin Roshardt or Stephane Bohli.

Other first-round winners included Marin Cilic of Croatia, Florent Serra of France, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.

Results:

First round: Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) bt Martin Vassallo Argueello (Argentina) 6-3, 6-4; 7-Igor Andreev (Russia) bt Marcos Daniel (Brazil) 6-4, 7-5; 8-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) bt Ivo Minar (Czech Republic) 7-6(9), 6-3; Florent Serra (France) bt Daniel Gimeno (Spain) 7-6(2), 7-6(5); Marin Cilic

(Croatia) bt Josselin Ouanna (France) 6-3, 6-4.

PASHANSKI DOWNS MASSU

BASTAD (Sweden): Boris Pashanski beat Nicolas Massu 6-2, 6-3 on Monday in one of only two matches that were completed at the rain-plagued Swedish Open.

Massu, a Chilean who had to qualify to get into the main draw, was outplayed by the Serb from the start of the match.

Pashanski will now face defending champion David Ferrer of Spain.

Qualifier Bjorn Rehnquist of Sweden opened the 61st edition of the clay-court tournament by defeating Michal Przysiezny of Poland 7-5, 6-2 on centre court.

Rehnquist will play either sixth-seeded Gael Monfils of France or Swedish wild-card Michael Ryderstedt in the second round.

Monfils made the semi-finals of this year’s French Open, taking a set off top-ranked Roger Federer.

Two other first-round matches were postponed due to rain.

Results:

First round: Bjorn Rehnquist (Sweden) bt Michal Przysiezny (Poland) 7-5, 6-2; Boris Pashanski (Serbia) bt Nicolas Massu (Chile) 6-2, 6-3.—Agencies