ROSMALEN, Netherlands — French Open losing finalist David Ferrer lost his first round match Tuesday at the Topshelf Open, depriving him of valuable practice time on the grass courts of Rosmalen in the week before Wimbledon. A single service break in the second set was enough for Xavier Malisse of Belgium to beat defending champion and top-seeded Ferrer in straight sets, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Second-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka bucked the trend by beating Steve Darcis 7-6 (5), 6-4. The only other seeded player to reach the second round was Jeremy Chardy of France, seeded fifth, who beat Lucas Pouille 7-5, 6-4. The top-seeded woman, 2011 champion Roberta Vinci, had no such problems, brushing aside Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-3 in the first match on center court to reach the second round. Fourth-seeded Kirsten Flipkens rallied from a set down to overcome Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the first round while Carla Suarez Navarro advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 6-4. Benoit Paire was another seeded player who didn't make it past the first round, retiring after losing the first three games of the match to fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra. Tomic posts season's first win on grass Australian Bernard Tomic has recharged his form on grass, shaking off last week's hamstring concern to post a 6-3, 6-4 first round win over Briton James Ward at the ATP-WTA Eastbourne International Tuesday. The victory came one week after Tomic lost in the opening round at Queen's Club to German Benjamin Becker while nursing his injury. Spain's Feliciano Lopez, twice a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, beat Finn Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5). Slovak Martin Klizan beat Victor Troicki 6-3, 6-2, and Ivan Dodig stropped Denis Istomin 6-3, 6-4. Czech veteran Radek Stepanek schooled Aussie Marinko Matosevic 6-3, 6-2. Women began completing their opening round at the joint event, with German third seed Angelique Kerber starting with a victory over Romanian Sorona Cirstea 6-4, 6-4. Fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki, the former WTA number one, began her grass campaign with a win as she put out holder Tamira Paszek. The Austrian retired trailing 6-2, 2-2 with the same left thigh injury which last week forced her from Birmingham. Taiwan's Hsieh Su Wei beat Briton Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-3 while Lucie Safarova won an all-Czech battle over Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 7-6 (7/2). China's Li Na began her grass season with just six days left before the start of Wimbledon, with the sixth seed beating Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-4 to reach the second round. But not everything went to plan for the elite, with top seed Agnieszka Radwanska losing to American qualifier Jamie Hampton 7-6 (7/2), 6-2. It was the second straight year that the Pole, 2012 Wimbleodn finalist, had exited in the opening round. Unseeded Australian Samantha Stosur also caught a seed on a bad day as she beat number eight Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-3. “It was a good match, I served well,” said the winner. “I've been been working on things for a few days. and I've been able to train here every day.” Wild card Elena Baltacha claimed a British victory, beating Czech Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) while Taiwan's Hsieh Su Wei beat Briton Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-3. Laura Robson also took a win, beating Yuliya Beygelzimer 6-3, 6-2. — Agencies
