Spanish favorite Fernando Verdasco reached the second round, while third-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came up a loser Wednesday at the $2.98 million Valencia Open.
The fourth-seeded Verdasco was leading wild card and fellow Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-1, 0-1 when Hernandez retired with a lower back injury.
Up next for the 2004 Valencia titlist Verdasco will be dangerous Serb Janko Tipsarevic.
Tsonga, meanwhile, was trailing Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 0-3 when the flashy Frenchman retired with a left wrist injury on the indoor hardcourts here.
Fifth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon reached the quarterfinals by holding off Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, while sixth-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils went by way of a second-round upset Wednesday, falling to Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 7-5.
In some other opening-round play on Day 3, the aforementioned Tipsarevic handled struggling Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-4, 6-3 and Feliciano Lopez doused qualifier and fellow Spaniard Alberto Martin 7-5, 6-3. Martin captured this title eight years ago.
On Thursday, top-seeded Brit Andy Murray will meet Argentine Leonardo Mayer, while second-seeded Russian star Nikolay Davydenko will encounter Argentine Juan Monaco and eighth-seeded and defending Valencia champion David Ferrer will battle fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes. Ferrer defeated Nicolas Almagro in last year's popular all-Spanish finale here.
The 2009 Valencia winner will take home $475,000.
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