Bucharest, Romania – Capable Belgian Xavier Malisse upset defending champion Florian Mayer in Wednesday's second-round action at the $522,500 BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy tennis event.
The unseeded former top-20 player Malisse needed three sets to douse the second-seeded Mayer, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, on the red clay at BNR Arenas.
The German Mayer topped Spaniard Pablo Andujar in last year's Bucharest finale.
Meanwhile, German qualifier Daniel Brands defeated Estonian qualifier Jurgen Zopp 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 and Hungarian qualifier Attila Balazs disposed of Italian Potito Starace 6-3, 6-4 on Day 3. The upstart Balasz will face Malisse in the quarterfinals.
On Thursday, top-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon will open his week with a second-round match against Israeli veteran Dudi Sela and fifth-seeded former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis will encounter Italian Fabio Fognini. Simon was the back-to-back Bucharest champion in 2007 and 2008.
The 2012 Bucharest titlist will pocket $95,000.
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