Andreev escapes first-rounder in Morocco

CASABLANCA, Morocco, April 7 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Igor Andreev needed to rally Tuesday for a first-round victory at the $600,000 Grand Prix Hassan II tennis tournament in Morocco.

Andreev had trouble getting going and had his serve broken twice in the first set before he was able to escape with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over wild-card entrant Rabie Chaki. Andreev was very solid in the second set, no facing a break points and getting 85 percent of his first serves in.

Second-seeded Rainer Schuettler fell, dropping a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) decision on the clay courts in Casablanca to Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in a tight match that took 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Seventh-seeded Christophe Rochus was also ousted, losing 6-2, 6-3 to Juan Carlos Ferrero.

In other first-round matches Tuesday, third-seeded Albert Montanes defeated Reda El Amrani 6-2, 7-5; sixth-seeded Marc Gicquel topped Kristof Vliegen, 7-5, 6-3; Olivier Rochus stopped Mehdi Ziadi, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; and Potito Starace took out Oscar Hernandez, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Also winning Tuesday were Santiago Ventura, Teimuraz Gabashvili, Nicolas Devilder and Mischa Zverev.