NOTTINGHAM, England, June 18 (UPI) -- Two-time defending champion Richard Gasquet of France was among the first-round tennis winners Monday at The Nottingham Open.
The top-seeded Gasquet, who turned 21 Monday, improved to 11-0 at this event with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over American Vincent Spadea. The Frenchman beat Swede Jonas Bjorkman, the 1998 and 2002 titlist here, in last year's finale.
In an upet, Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean defeated fifth-seeded Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-4. Grosjean won this tournament in 2000.
Seventh-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka was supposed to play 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic, but their match was postponed Monday because of rain.
In other opening-round play, Frenchman Gilles Simon beat Romanian Andrei Pavel 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, and Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was leading Englishman Alex Bogdanovic 6-4, 0-1 when their match was suspended.
