Xavier Malisse of Belgium downed sixth-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-4, 7-6 (4) Monday in the first round of the US$980,000 Lyon Open.
Hrbaty, who has won three of his six ATP titles this year, also helped Slovakia reach the Davis Cup World Group by winning both his singles matches against Germany.
Also, Feliciano Lopez of Spain and Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia both won, while Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden ousted 2002 French Open champion Albert Costa of Spain 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4 indoors on carpet.
Lopez defeated Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3, and Ljubicic overcame Arnaud Clement of France 6-4, 7-6 (1).
Clement, the Australian Open runner-up in 2001 and at Lyon last year, has won only two of his last 10 matches and is 15-21 overall.
Porsche GP
Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi of Israel upset eighth-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-3, 7-6 (3) Monday at the Porsche Grand Prix, where the field has been decimated by injuries.
The tournament, which usually draws leading players, still boasts nine of the world's top 15 but has lost four players once ranked No. 1 to injury.
Defending champion Kim Clijsters, fighting her recurring wrist injury, became the latest to pull out on Sunday following Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
The field will be topped by world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo of France and Lindsay Davenport of the US.
Other top players include Anastasia Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
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