Simon bounced from Casablanca tournament

CASABLANCA, Morocco, April 23 (UPI) -- Fourth-seeded Gilles Simon was upset Monday in first-round play at the $400,000 Grand Prix Hassan II tennis tournament in Morocco.

Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo posted a clear 6-4, 6-4 victory in ousting Simon on the opening day of the clay-court event.

Two other seeded players fared better in their first-round matches. No. 5 Marc Gicquel was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Alessio Di Mauro and No. 6 Arnaud Clement took a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 decision from Ernests Gulbis.

Other first-round winners Monday were Nicolas Mahut, Michael Russell and Janko Tipsarevic.

This week's top seed is Dominik Hrbaty, the 2004 runner-up at the Casablanca ATP stop.

This year's Grand Prix Hassan II winner will earn $75,000.