BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — No. 2 Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Potito Starace of Italy 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), at Copa Claro clay-court event on Tuesday.
Gilles Simon of France defeated Rui Machado of Portugal 6-3, 7-5, and No. 5 Juan Monaco of Argentina advanced when Filippo Volandri of Italy retired in the second set with an injury. Monaco was leading 6-1, 3-1.
Seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain defeated Eric Prodon of France 6-4, 6-1.
Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina was upset by Albert Ramos of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In other matches, Benoit Paire of France defeated Javier Marti of Spain 2-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2, and Igor Andreev of Russia stopped Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 6-2, 6-2.
