CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) Fifth-seeded Potito Starace of Italy defeated Daniel Brands of Germany 7-5, 6-2 Tuesday to reach the second round of the Grand Prix Hassan II.
Starace lost only 10 points on his serve and converted three of his seven break points to advance.
Filippo Volandri of Italy also progressed to the second round of the clay-court tournament after breaking his opponent four times on his way to a 7-5, 6-3 win over Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
In other matches, Ramirez Hidalgo, Frederico Gil and Michael Berrer advanced with straight-set victories.