Roddick struggled with his serve from the outset

Monte Carlo Masters

Andy Roddick suffered an embarrassing first-round exit as he was beaten 7-5 6-3 by Spanish qualifier Albert Portas.

The third-seeded American struggled from the outset on what proved a day of upsets.

Fellow seeds Alex Corretja and Fernando Gonzalez were also ousted in their opening matches.

Roddick was let down by some lacklustre serving against Portas, who won the Hamburg Masters in 2001.

Number 12 seed Corretja, twice a French Open finalist, was beaten 7-6 6-3 by fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez

And local favourite Arnaud Clement saw off 14th seed Gonzalez 6-4 6-3 in a match disrupted by heavy winds.

"I have not won many matches here and I'm very glad to have won this," said Clement.

"I feel better and better and almost at my best. I feel fresh and very happy to be here."

Clement, who is recovering from a wrist injury, needed five set points to win the first 6-4 before going on to seal only his third win in Monte Carlo.

Corretja had been expected to shine in the tournament and had only himself to blame for crashing out at the first hurdle.

The 29-year-old failed to convert four set points in the first and conceded the tie-break to Lopez, who wrapped up the match to move into the last 32.

In other action, last year's Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian upset home hopes when he overwhelmed Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-0, while Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler overpowered Fabrice Santoro 6-1 6-2.

Croatian Ivan Ljubicic also progressed with a 6-3 7-6 victory over Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta.

Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten stumbled early on but recovered well to beat American Mardy Fish 3-6 6-1 6-0.

Elsewhere, Fernando Vicente of Spain defeated France's Nicolas Escude 6-4 6-3, while Sweden's Magnus Norman overcame Nicolas Lapentti 6-3, 6-3.

Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero began the defence of his crown in encouraging fashion, coasting past Australian Wayne Arthurs 6-4 6-1.

In other first-round matches, last year's beaten finalist Carlos Moya faces Belgian Xavier Malisse, while French Open champion Albert Costa takes on in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko.