Starace takes Bucharest first-round upset

BUCHAREST, Romania, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Potito Starace posted an upset victory Monday in first-round play of the $525,000 BCR Open Romania clay-court tennis tournament.

Starace fired in 84 percent of his first serves and faced just three break points in the course of his 6-2, 6-4 defeat of seventh-seeded Marcel Granollers. Starace advanced to a second-round match with Florent Serra, who won the Bucharest tournament in 2005.

Serra survived a tough 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4) match Monday with Nicolas Devilder that took nearly three hours to complete. Starace was on the court for less than 1 1/2 hours in his match.

Albert Montanes beat Lee Hyung-taik 6-1, 7-6 (7-4); Guillermo Garcia-Lopez topped Mischa Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 6-0; and Denis Gremelmayr defeated Jeremy Chardy 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in Monday's other matches.

The top seeds for the BCR Open Romania are Richard Gasquet and tournament defending champion Gilles Simon.