CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) Algerian qualifier Lamine Ouahab upset sixth-seeded Robin Haase 6-3, 6-2 in the first round at the Grand Prix Hassan II on Tuesday.
Ouahab broke the Dutchman's serve twice in each set, winning in one hour to set up a second-round match against Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol of Spain. Gutierrez-Ferrol won 6-2, 6-1 against Rui Machado of Portugal.
Earlier, Albert Ramos beat Pere Riba 6-2, 6-3 in an all-Spanish match.
The seventh-seeded Ramos broke five times and will play Victor Hanescu of Romania, who led 6-2, 3-0 against Malek Jaziri when the Tunisian retired.
Jeremy Chardy saved eight of nine break points to defeat Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-4, 7-5. The Frenchman will meet top-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany.
Paul-Henri Mathieu of France broke five times en route to beating Mehdi Ziadi of Morocco 6-3, 6-1, and Matthias Bachinger of Germany downed Italian veteran Filippo Volandri 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
It always feels good to come back to a place where you have won in the past,'' said Mathieu, the 2007 champion.I'm happy to be back in Casablanca after missing last year.''
Mathieu is continuing his comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him for more than one year.
I haven't set a ranking goal for this year,'' he said.I will have to wait a little bit and hopefully I will be consistent enough to move up in the rankings.''