VALENCIA, Spain, April 12 (UPI) -- Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, Spaniards Alex Corretja and Fernando Verdasco and Czech Jan Vacek won opening matches Monday in Spain's Valencia Open.
The tournament, a tuneup for the French Open, had a light schedule because some of the players were traveling from Davis Cup matches over the weekend.
Ljubicic, the third seed, beat wild-card entry Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-4, Corretja defeated fifth-seeded David Sanchez 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, Verdasco eliminated Albert Portas 6-1, 6-4, and Vacek won over another wild card, Guillem Burniol, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
"I was happy to win in straight sets today," said Ljubicic, who plays Verdasco in the next round. "This is my first claycourt tournament of the year and first rounds are never easy.
"I've never played against (Verdasco) but I know he is a difficult opponent. He's a lefty, he's very talented, and he's playing at home so the crowd will be on his side."
