Verdasco, Hewitt first-round winners

LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and four-time champion Lleyton Hewitt were among Monday's opening-round winners at the $1.12 million Artois Championships.

Verdasco was leading Hyung-Taik Lee 5-3 when the Korean retired. Hewitt -- a former world No. 1 who won this tennis tournament from 2000 through 2002 and again in 2006 -- defeated Joshua Goodall of Britain 6-4, 6-4 Monday.

Also, 13th-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic beat Spaniard Ivan Navarro 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman beat Russian Igor Kunitsyn 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4 and next plays top-seeded four-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal.

The No. 2 seed this week is Serbian Novak Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open champion and U.S. Open runner-up.