NICE, France, May 23 (UPI) -- Spain's Nicolas Almagro took the first step toward defending his Nice Open title Wednesday with a straight-set victory over Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Almagro took down the Frenchman 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in a second-round match on the clay courts of the Nice Lawn Tennis Club.
The Spaniard won last year's championship by beating Romanian Victor Hanescu in the finale.
Almagro will be joined in the third round by American qualifier Brian Baker, who scored an upset by ousting Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6 (11-9) in 1 hour, 31 minutes.
The 27-year-old is trying to resurrect a once-promising career cut short by reconstructive elbow surgery.
Also advancing was American John Isner, who fired 13 aces in his 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) victory over Belgian Xavier Malisse.
In other action, France's Gilles Simon bested Bulgarian qualifier Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-3, while Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin upended fifth-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Also logging wins Wednesday were Russian Nikolay Davydenko, Belgian Steve Darcis and Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci.
