Ferrero among seeded beaten in Valencia

VALENCIA, Spain, April 12 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero was ousted in straight sets Thursday during second-round play at the Valencia Open in Spain.

Ferrero, who won this event in 2003, was dumped by Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-2 in a tournament that has seen many seeds fall in early rounds. Fifth-seeded Gilles Simon, last year's Valencia runner-up, was also upset Thursday, losing to Marcel Granollers-Pujol 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Other matches Thursday saw Navarro Pastor getting by Augustin Gensse 7-6 (13-11), 6-4; Evgeny Korolev beating Sergio Roitman 1-6, 7-5, 6-0; Potito Starace topping Pablo Andujar 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; and Santiago Ventura winning 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 over Alejandro Falla.

The only seeded players left are No. 3 Nicolas Almagro, the event's defending champion, and No. 7 Filippo Volandri. But only one will advance to the semifinals because Almagro and Volandri are paired off in Friday's quarterfinals.

The other quarters will pit Navarro Pastor against Korolev, Starace versus Granollers-Pujol and Ventura against Martin.