Tue Jun 10 15:54:18 2008

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Murray, Gonzalez notch Day-2 wins in London

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London, England (Sports Network) - Sixth-seeded Brit Andy Murray moved into the third round, while 10th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez posted an opening-round victory Tuesday at the $1.12 million Artois Championships, a grass-court Wimbledon tuneup.

Murray was leading Sebastien Grosjean 2-0 in the first set when the Frenchman retired, while Gonzalez got past Britain's Richard Bloomfield 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in the opening round at The Queen's Club.

In other second-round action, seventh-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu got past Croat Marin Cilic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, eighth-seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic clocked Aussie Joseph Sirianni 6-3, 6-2 and Croat Mario Ancic erased ninth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

In other first-round play involving seeds, No. 12 Italian Andreas Seppi edged out speedy Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 and No. 15 American Mardy Fish cruised past Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1, 6-4, while France's Nicolas Mahut ousted 14th-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4) and Frenchman Olivier Patience took out 16th-seeded American Sam Querrey 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. Mahut was last year's runner-up here to massive-serving American star Andy Roddick.

Additional opening-round wins came for Italian Simone Bolelli, American John Isner, Belgian Xavier Malisse and Czech Ivo Minar.

Several stars will see second-round action here on Wednesday, including top- seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal, second-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic and the reigning champion Roddick of the United States. The four-time French Open champion and two-time Wimbledon runner-up Nadal will face veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman, while the Aussie Open champion and U.S. Open runner-up Djokovic will meet Croat Roko Karanusic and the third-seeded former world No. 1 Roddick will tangle with fellow American Robby Ginepri.

The four-time Queen's Club winner and two-time Wimbledon runner-up Roddick also titled here from 2003-05. Roddick and fellow former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt have combined to win the last eight titles here. The Aussie Hewitt captured this event from 2000-02 and again in 2006.

Also on Wednesday, fourth-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian will face Serbian Viktor Troicki, while Gonzalez will meet former top-ranked star Marat Safin and an 11th-seeded Hewitt will battle Malisse.