BARCELONA: Albert Montanes defeated Spanish countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-4 here at the Barcelona Open on Monday to begin his final ATP tournament.

The 36-year-old Montanes announced last week he will retire after nearly 20 years on tour when he’s knocked out of Barcelona, where he lives. He beat Goran Ivanisevic on debut, and his best result was the semifinals in 2004. He won six ATP titles and was ranked a career-best 22 in 2010.

Montanes, a wild card, will play Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the next round.

Lucky loser Yuichi Sugita of Japan defeated wild card Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-3, setting up a match against Richard Gasquet.

Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat qualifier Steven Diez of Canada 6-3, 6-4, and will next play Alexander Zverev of Germany, the eighth seed.

Top-seeded Andy Murray and third-seeded Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, have byes.

Kei Nishikori, the 2014 and 2015 champion, was seeded second, but he pulled out because of a right wrist injury.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2017