BUCHAREST, Romania, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Tournament top seeds Nicolas Almagro and Filippo Volandri are both out after first-round matches at the $400,000 Romanian Open clay-court tennis event.
Almagro, the No. 1 seed, won his first set but was behind 1-5 in the second when he said he couldn't continue because of an elbow injury. That decision allowed Simone Bolelli to advance to the second round.
Volandri, seeded second, was ousted by qualifier Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Volandri was the tournament runner-up in 2006.
Also upset Tuesday was seventh-seeded Fabrice Santoro, who was defeated by Carlos Berlocq 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
No. 3 Potito Starace was the only seeded player to advance Tuesday and he needed a third set to get by Kristof Vliegen 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Two local favorites -- both tournament wild-card entries -- won Tuesday. Victor Hanescu was a 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-3) winner over Florian Mayer and Andrei Pavel swept Oscar Hernandez 7-5, 7-5.
Also winning first-round matches Tuesday were Yuri Schukin, Hugo Armando and Marc Gicquel.
