Buenos Aires, Argentina – Former champ and second-seeded Nicolas Almagro needed less than an hour to dispose of his first-round opponent at the clay-court Copa Claro tennis event on Monday.
Almagro, who titled here in 2011 and was last year's runner-up to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Guido Pella of Argentina at Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, though two other seeded players failed to advance to the second round.
Little-known Argentine wild card Diego Sebastian Schwartzman ousted fourth- seeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, while Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia defeated fifth-seeded Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
In other first-round action on Monday, No. 8 seed Albert Ramos of Spain drilled Italian Flavio Cipolla 6-1, 6-0, and Argentine wild card Federico Delbonis doused Portuguese Joao Sousa, 6-1, 6-4.
The top seed here is the world No. 4 and defending champion Ferrer, who is in action Tuesday against Argentine Agustin Velotti.
This week's champ will pocket $84,550.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.