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Qualifier downs top seed Mardy Fish

Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta hits a double-handed backhand against Russia's Yuri Schukin during their first round singles qualifying match at the Swedish Open tournament in Bastad, Sweden, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP

Top seeded Mardy Fish was upset by qualifier Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the US$416,000 Hall of Fame Tennis Championship on Tuesday.

Playing his first match since a straight-sets loss to Rafael Nadal in the opening round at Wimbledon, Fish fell to 0-3 on grass courts this season.

The 27-year-old Qureshi, who reached the second round at the All England Club, next will face fellow qualifier Nathan Healey, who routed American Jesse Levine, 6-1, 6-0.

With Fish bounced and third seed Michael Llodra dropping out following his victory in the doubles at Wimbledon, the top half of the draw is opening up for No. 5 Nicolas Mahut of France, who posted a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 victory over Adrian Garcia of Chile.

Mahut, who is in search of his first career title, reached his first career final last month on the grass at the Artois Championships in London.

Another seeded player that was upset was No. 7 Igor Kunitsyn of Russia, who was beaten by Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-1, 2-6, 6-1.

American qualifier Prakash Amritraj collected his first win on the ATP Tour this season with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Serbian Ilia Bozoljac. The big win set up a matchup with countryman Scoville Jenkins, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Italian Daniele Bracciali.

In another match involving an American, 22-year-old wild card John Isner was bounced by Belgian Dick Norman, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Another first-round winner was Danai Udomchoke of Thailand who beat Briton Alex Bogdanovic in three sets.

Ferrer eases through first round

David Ferrer defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-1 on Tuesday in the first round of the Swedish Open.

Ferrer is the highest-seeded player remaining in the tournament after defending champion Tommy Robredo made an early exit.

Mariano Zabaleta -- another former Swedish Open champion -- lost on Tuesday to Russian qualifier Yurik Schukin 6-1, 1-6, 7-5.

Also, 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson beat Oscar Hernandez of Spain 6-4, 6-4, and Jonas Bjorkman beat Michal Przysiezny of Poland 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

"I was struggling getting into the match, finding my rhythm," said Bjorkman, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon.

"Besides, it's always hard to play someone you don't know. Regarding those circumstances, I am just glad to be through," he said.

Sixth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden, Juan Monaco of Argentina, Gilles Simon of France and Fernando Verdasco of Spain also advanced.

Davydenko close to going out

Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko prevented Gael Monfils from serving to victory before their first-round match at the Swiss Open was suspended because of rain on Tuesday.

Monfils looked set to avenge a third-round loss to Davydenko at Wimbledon when he prepared to serve at 3-6, 6-4, 5-4. But Monfils made four unforced errors to lose the game, and the players refused to continue because of increasing rain and puddles on the clay court.

The rain also prematurely ended a match which started on Monday, and had Russian wild card Igor Andreev set to serve out against Spain's Albert Montanes at 3-6, 6-3, 5-4.

Three seeded players managed to advance.

Fifth-seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, who last year lost in the first round, won over Sergio Roitman of Argentina 7-6 (4), 6-4. Another Frenchman, No. 6 Marc Gicquel defeated Diego Hartfield of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (5). No. 8 Potito Starace of Italy, a quarter-finalist in 2005, beat Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Other first-round winners included Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, Austrian Werner Eschauer, and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.
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