BUCHAREST, Romania, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- This week's top-four seeds, including French Open runner-up Mariano Puerta, were among Tuesday's first-round winners at the $400,000 Romania Open.
Top-seeded Puerta got past Serb Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-2 on the red clay at Arenele Progressul B.N.R. Puerta will face Spaniard Guillermo Garcia Lopez in the round of 16.
In other action involving top-four seeds, No. 2 Italian Filippo Volandri vaulted past German Tomas Behrend 6-2, 6-4, No. 3 Romanian Andrei Pavel topped Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-4 and No. 4 Romanian Victor Hanescu humbled Italian Potito Starace 6-3, 6-2. Martin captured this event in 1999.
An upset came when Spaniard Albert Montanes overcame fifth-seeded rising Frenchman Gael Monfils 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Montanes was a Bucharest finalist in 2001.
Eighth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco avoided an upset by blasting Argentine Mariano Zabaleta 6-2, 6-4.
