Top-seeded Frenchmen win first rounders

CASABLANCA, Morocco, May 19 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils were first-round winners Monday at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco.

Tsonga, the Australian Open runner-up, defeated Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-4, 7-6 (12-10) and Monfils came from behind to best Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-7 (8-10), 7-5, 6-0.

Montanes was last year's Casablanca runner-up to Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.

All of this week's eight seeds saw action Monday.

Other winners included third-seeded Argentine Agustin Calleri, fourth-seeded Frenchman Marc Gicquel and fifth-seeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau. Sixth-seeded Aussie Chris Guccione, seventh-seeded Frenchman Florent Serra and eighth-seeded Romanian Victor Hanescu were all upset.

Calleri beat Frenchman Thierry Ascione 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; Gicquel beat Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 6-0; and Benneteau beat German Florian Mayer 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

German Rainer Schuettler beat Guccione 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2; Gilles Simon beat French countryman Serra 6-2, 5-7, 6-3; and Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui beat Hanescu 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3.