OEIRAS, Portugal - Top-seeded David Nalbandian, the 2002 champion, edged France's Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 7-5 Tuesday in the first round of the clay-court Estoril Open.
Nalbandian, an Australian Open semifinalist, dropped serve early in both sets, but four double-faults by Mahut allowed the Argentine back into the match.
Fourth-seeded Gael Monfils of France topped Razvan Sabau of Romania 6-1, 6-2; fifth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia defeated Gastao Elias of Portugal 6-2, 6-1; and sixth-seeded Carlos Moya beat Flavio Saretta 6-3, 6-4.
Moya, a former No. 1, broke the Brazilian in the eighth game of the first set to lead 5-3 and then held serve. The Spaniard saved a break point when ahead 5-4 in the second set.
Seventh-seeded Nicolas Massu of Chile won 6-0, 7-5 over Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands, and two-time major winner Marat Safin of Russia beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-1, 6-4.
Among the women, second-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina ousted Zi Yan of China 6-4, 6-4, and third-seeded Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain overpowered Magali de Lattre of Portugal 6-1, 6-2.
Sixth-seeded Jie Zheng of China edged Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-5, 6-4, and seventh-seeded Emilie Loit of France defeated Frederica Piedade of Portugal 6-1, 6-2.