BARCELONA — Top-seeded Kei Nishikori began the defense of his Barcelona Open title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia Tuesday. Nicolas Almagro also advanced to the second round, where he will face eight-time winner Rafael Nadal, after his opponent Paolo Lorenzi retired 10 minutes into the match with Almagro leading 3-0. Last year, Almagro stunned Nadal in the quarterfinals, ending Nadal's run of 41 straight wins at the tournament. Nishikori hit 22 winners and held his serve to win the second-round match on the outdoor clay court in one hour, eight minutes. The fifth-ranked Japanese player could face last year's runner-up Santiago Giraldo Thursday if the Colombian gets past Joao Sousa. In the day's other second-round matches, seventh-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut advanced after beating Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, while Tommy Robredo downed Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-2. Earlier, Russian teenager Andrey Rublev beat 2010 champion Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the first round. The 17-year-old Rublev, who entered as a qualifier ranked 329th, broke the Spaniard three times while saving five break chances. Rublev will next face 13th-seeded Fabio Fognini. Albert Montanes came back to defeat Ricardas Berankis 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 and will meet David Ferrer in the second round, where 2014 US Open winner Marin Cilic will play Victor Estrella after Estrella ousted Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-6 (3). Juan Monaco got past Alejandro Gonzalez 7-5, 6-1 and will play Martin Klizan. Marsel Ilhan outlasted James Ward 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-1 in just over two hours, while Sousa edged lucky loser Kenny de Schepper 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Garcia-Lopez thru In Romania, fifth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez lost only five service points in beating qualifier Lorenzo Giustino 6-2, 6-0 Tuesday at the Nastase Tiriac Trophy. The 2013 champion from Spain will next face Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. Baghdatis beat Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-2 in the second round. Also, eighth-seeded Simone Bolelli saved five of seven break points to beat Andrey Golubev 7-6 (3), 6-4, and wild-card entry Janko Tipsarevic defeated qualifier Thomas Fabbiano 6-4, 6-3. — Agencies
