Defending champion Annika Beck of Germany was upset by Barbora Stefkova 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the opening round of the Coupe Banque Nationale Tuesday, one of four seeded players to fall on the second day of the tournament. Stefkova saved two match points in the second set against the second-seeded Beck and rallied from a break down in the third before closing out the match. The Czech player had fallen in the final round of qualifying but was added to the main draw as a lucky loser after Bethanie Mattek-Sands withdrew from the tournament. In other matches, Canadian wildcard Francoise Abanda defeated sixth-seeded Mona Barthel of Germany 7-6 (7), 6-4; Oceane Dodin of France knocked out fifth-seeded Naomi Broady of Britain 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; and Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia beat fourth-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany 6-4, 7-6 (1). Putintseva advances in Japan Third-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan defeated Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday to advance to the second round of the Japan Open. Putintseva, whose first-round match was rained out Tuesday, saved six of eight break points she faced and will next play local favorite Karumi Nara. Varvara Lepchenko of the US ousted fourth-seeded Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals. In other first-round matches, Naomi Osaka of Japan beat Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 6-0, 6-2, and Magda Linette of Poland overpowered Japanese qualifier Erika Sema 6-1, 6-0. Monfils ruled out of Davis semifinal Gael Monfils has been ruled out of France's Davis Cup semifinal in Croatia this week. Coming off the US Open semifinals, Monfils was hampered by a knee problem, the French Tennis Federation said Wednesday. It's another big blow for the French team after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to pull out last week because of a knee injury, and was replaced by Richard Gasquet. Lucas Pouille and Gasquet are now expected to play the singles. Pouille has played only one tie for France, beating Jiri Vesely in the 3-1 quarterfinal win against the Czech Republic. Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, the world's top-ranked doubles pair, complete the lineup for the semifinal in Zadar. France is trying to reach the final for the second time in three years.
