Tue Feb 26 01:02:28 2008

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Monaco gets hard-fought win in Acapulco

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Acapulco, Mexico (Sports Network) - Third-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco beat fellow countryman Juan Pablo Brzezicki, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, to advance to round two at the clay-court Abierto Mexicano Telcel tennis event.

Monaco, who is trying to bounce back from a disappointing first-round loss last week in Buenos Aires, moved his record to 10-3 this season.

Sixth seed Nicolas Almagro breezed past Czech Jiri Vanek, 6-1, 6-2.

An upset came when Spaniard Albert Montanes took out seventh-seeded Russian Igor Andreev 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 at the beautiful Fairmont Acapulco Princess.

In another first-round encounter, Spanish qualifier Marcel Granollers-Pujol defeated Mexican wild card Bruno Rodriguez, 6-3, 6-3.

This week's top seed is last week's Buenos Aires titlist, Argentine star David Nalbandian. Another Argentine, Juan Ignacio Chela, defeated Spaniard Carlos Moya in last year's Acapulco finale.

The 2008 champion will claim $163,750.