Estoril, Portugal – Seventh-seeded two-time champion Albert Montanes highlighted Tuesday's first-round winners at the $525,000 Estoril Open tennis event.
The Spanish Montanes, who titled back-to-back here in 2009 ands 2010, mauled Aussie Matthew Ebden 6-2, 6-3, while seventh-seeded Italian Flavio Cipolla subdued Argentine Diego Junqueira 6-1, 6-4 at National Stadium.
Portugal's Rui Machado moved on by downing wild card and fellow countryman Pedro Sousa 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-2, while another all-Portuguese affair saw Joao Sousa edge out fellow wild card Gastao Elias 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Machado is rewarded with a second-round match against top-seeded and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro. The former U.S. Open champion del Potro, of Argentina, beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in last year's Estoril finale.
Additional Tuesday wins came for Spanish qualifiers Ivan Navarro, Daniel Munoz-De La Nava and Inigo Cervantes, and speedy German Bjorn Phau.
The winner of this clay-court French Open tune-up will claim $95,000.