LYON, France, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Hicham Arazi of Morocco upended ninth seed Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands Wednesday to advance to the second round at the Grand Prix of Tennis.
Arazi saved a match point and for a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 triumph. He will meet Max Mirnyi in the second round after the native of Belarus defeated German Rainer Schuettler, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Arazi's countryman, Younes El Aynaoui, surprised No. 8 Nicolas Lapentti, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), in a second-round match.
Also in the second round, Argentine Gaston Gaudio ousted Michal Tabara of the Czech Republic, 3-6, 7-4.
In other first-round matches, defending champion and fifth seeded Arnaud Clement of France rallied to defeat countryman Michael Llodra, a wild-card entry, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Next up for Clement is Belgian Xavier Malisse, who pulled away for a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 over Slovakia's Karol Kucera.
Germany's Nicolas Kiefer cruised past Galo Blanco, 7-5, 6-3, and will meet another Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero, in the second round.
Top seed Gustavo Kuerten suffered his second opening-round upset loss in as many tournaments Tuesday, falling to Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic.
