Open 13

Yevgeny Kafelnikov was beaten in straight sets by Belgium's Oliver Rochus in the first round in Marseille on Wednesday.

The Russian, who was out of sorts in a Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic last weekend, was equally short of form in the 7-6 6-4 loss to Rochus.

Sebastien Grosjean, who lost to Kafelnikov in the 2001 final here, had a straightforward passage into the next round with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Spain's Alex Calatrava.

It was even easier for top seed Roger Federer of Switzerland who went through when Croat Ivan Ljubicic retired after losing the first set tiebreak.

Grosjean's Davis Cup partner Nicolas Escude destroyed second-seeded Czech Jiri Novak 6-2 6-1.

Morocco's Younes El-Aynaoui, the fifth seed, lost to Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman 6-2 6-4, while Max Mirnyi of Belarus downed Spain's Tommy Robredo, seeded eighth, 6-7 6-1 7-6.

In Wednesday's later games, Slovakia's Karol Kucera beat Michel Kratochvil when the Swiss retired with injury in the deciding third set.

And in an all-French clash, Cyril Saulnier surprised seventh seed Fabrice Santoro 2-6 6-4 6-1.

Siebel Open

American fifth seed Todd Martin withdrew from the San Jose tournament because his infant son Jack requires emergency surgery.

Martin's departure to be with Jack, who was born on 21 January, gave Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus a free passage into Friday's quarter-finals.

Second seed Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand squandered an early lead and never recovered as he lost to American Justin Gimelstob 7-5 6-2 in the first round.

In other first-round matches, South Korea's Lee Hyung-Taik beat American Taylor Dent 6-2 7-6.

American star James Blake, the third seed, beat Zimbabwe's Wayne Black 6-2 6-4, while Blake's compatriot Vince Spadea defeated Lars Burgsmuller of Germany 6-3 6-4.

BellSouth Open

Flavio Saretta, beaten in the deciding singles of Brazil's Davis Cup tie against Sweden, suffered more misery when he lost in straight sets in the first round of the $380,000 event in Vina del Mar, Chile.

Saretta had barely recovered from the transatlantic journey from Stockholm before a 6-3 6-0 defeat by Argentina's Mariano Puerta left him contemplating another plane journey.

Puerta's win completed the first round in Chile before three seeds fell when the second round got underway later on Wednesday.

Alberto Montanes of Spain upset sixth-seeded compatriot Fernando Vicente 6-7 6-2.

In the next round, Montanes will play Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic, who beat Franco Squillari of Argentina 7-6 7-5.

David Sanchez of Spain also advanced, beating fourth-seeded Jose Acasuso of Argentina 4-6 6-0 6-1, while Italy's Andrea Gaudenzi upset eighth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 5-7 6-4 6-0.

Sanchez and Gaudenzi will meet in the next round.