UMAG (Croatia), July 16: The opening day of the 400,000-dollar Umag ATP tournament turned out to be a nightmare for the organizers as top seed David Nalbandian of Argentina lost in the first round Monday.

Wimbledon finalist Nalbandian was easily defeated by little known Spaniard David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3.

Ferrer won the first set in 56 minutes after twice breaking Nalbandian’s serve. After the first set, a physiotherapist helped Nalbandian with a right knee problem which he has had since reaching the final at Wimbledon earlier this month.

In the second set, Nalbandian had one chance for a break, but squandered it.

In the second match of the opening day, Croatian Mario Radic, playing for the first time in an ATP tournament, won against Austria’s Julian Knowle 6-4, 6-3.

Results

David Ferrer (Spain) beat 1-David Nalbandian (Argentina) 6-4 6-3; Oliver Gross (Germany) beat Markus Hipfl (Austria) 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5); Mario Radic (Croatia) beat Julian Knowle (Austria) 6-4 6-3, Juan Antonio Marin (Costa Rica) beat Stefano Galvani (Italy) 6-3 3-6 6-0, Zeljko Krajan (Croatia) beat Edgardo Massa (Argentina) 6-4 6-2

MERCEDES CUP