STUTTGART, Germany - Christophe Rochus could have used
the bye that his younger brother received.
The Belgian blew a match point and was upset by obscure
Argentine qualifier Diego Junqueira, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), on
Monday in the first round of the Mercedes Cup.
Rochus' younger brother, Olivier, is the fourth seed here and
received a first-round bye.
Junqueira, 25, was playing his first ATP-level match. Ranked
162nd in the world, he will face No. 14 Filippo Volandri of
Italy in the second round.
In another early result, qualifier Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador
rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over German wild card Sebastian
Rieschick. He next will play No. 7 Florent Serra of France.
Other first-round winners Monday were Andreas Seppi, Stanislas
Wawrinka, Albert Portas, Florian Mayer, Diego Hartfield and Hugo
Armando.
A qualifier from the United States, Armando beat German wild
card Dieter Kindlmann, 6-4, 6-3, to set up a second-round
encounter with second-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych.
Argentine Juan Monaco and German Michael Berrer were tied at 1-1
in the third set when play was suspended for the day. The
winner will face No. 6 Kristof Vliegen of Belgium in the second
round.
The top seed is Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, the 2004 French Open
champion. He lost in last year's final to Rafael Nadal, who
pulled out with a left hand injury.