MARSEILLE, France(AP) Russian Mikhail Youzhny beat fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-1 in the first round of the Open 13 on Monday.
Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic and Feliciano Lopez of Spain also advanced to the second round.
Berdych was unable to break Youzhny, despite the Russian landing only 44 percent of his first serves. Youzhny jumped to a 5-0 lead in the third set to cruise to victory.
Tursunov rallied past compatriot Teimuraz Gabashvili 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to face Lopez in the next round.
In the first set, I was not aggressive enough,'' Tursunov said,so he took advantage of that. In the second set, I was trying to take the initiative away from him.''
The eighth-seeded Lopez outlasted Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The Spanish left-hander, who led his country to the Davis Cup title last year, converted his third match point after having failed to serve for the match at 5-3.
Ljubicic broke Lopez in the second game to win the first set. But Lopez fought back in the second set, taking the 2005 finalist's serve at 5-4.
Hernych beat Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 after the 111th-ranked Belgian squandered seven break points in the first set.
Richard Gasquet, who was slated to play fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel, withdrew from the Open 13 on Monday because of a right shoulder injury.
The 27th-ranked Gasquet said he had shoulder pain last week while playing at the ABN Amro tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and did not want to jeopardize his season according to the event's Web site.
``I could have played a match here, but not two,'' Gasquet said.