Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Top-seeded David Ferrer was an easy winner, while his fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro went by way of a second-round upset Wednesday at the $875,500 Malaysian Open tennis event.
The French Open runner-up Ferrer drubbed Italian qualifier Matteo Viola 6-2, 6-3, while Frenchman Adrian Mannarino took out the struggling third-seeded Almagro 6-4, 6-3 on the hardcourts at Putra Indoor Stadium. The former top-10 star Almagro hasn't reached a quarterfinal in over two months.
A second-round upset occurred when Argentine Federico Delbonis tackled seventh-seeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-1).
In first-round action involving seeds, No. 5 Frenchman Julien Benneteau handled Pole Michal Przysiezny 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 and No. 6 Russian Dmitry Tursunov dismissed American qualifier Rajeev Ram 7-5, 6-0. Benneteau was last year's Kuala Lumpur runner-up to Argentine Juan Monaco.
Also in the opening round, former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus beat Argentine Carlos Berlocq 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 and Portuguese Joao Sousa whipped American wild card Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-2.
In some second-round action on Thursday, second-seeded U.S. Open semifinalist Stanislas Wawrinka will take on the 2011 Kuala Lumpur finalist Baghdatis.
The 2013 Malaysian Open champion will claim $158,000.
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