Ljubicic ousted at Open de Moselle

Sep 30, 2008 - 6:53 PM METZ, France (Ticker) -- The pool of former champions at the Open de Moselle was halved Tuesday.

Unseeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic was ousted, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), by Romania's Victor Hanescu during opening-round action at the $370,00 hardcourt event.

With the 2005 champion eliminated, the only past winner remaining in the field here is French wild card Arnaud Clement, who won the inaugural tournament five years ago.

The 27-year-old Hanescu, who won his first title earlier this year at Gstaad, will face Eduardo Schwank next.

A native of Argentine, Schwank posted the surprise of the day with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 ousted of third-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Top-seeded Ivo Karlovic also was in danger of being upset, but he earned safe passage into the second round when Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis retired from their match with a back injury. Baghdatis, who won his only prior meeting with the Croat, was leading, 6-4, 1-2, when he conceded.

The ATP leader with 830 aces, Karlovic will next face former world No. 1 Carlos Moya, who owns a 3-0 lead in their all-time series.

Also slated to take the court is No. 2 Gilles Simon, who will clash with fellow Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

No. 4 Paul-Henri Mathieu won the day's other all-French showdown, thumping Nicolas Devilder, 6-0, 6-2, in 61 minutes.

Fifth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov, seeking his first title since Sydney in January, downed French qualifier Thierry Ascione, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-4.

First prize is $85,500.