Tue Feb 12 18:15:53 2008

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Murray wins Open 13 opener

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Marseille, France (Sports Network) - Fourth-seeded Brit Andy Murray was among the first-round winners Tuesday at the $1.125 million Open 13 tennis event.

The world No. 11 Murray handled Dutch qualifier Jesse Huta Galung 6-4, 6-4 on the indoor hardcourt at Palais de Sports.

Former world No. 1 Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero and sixth-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis also joined the parade into the second round, as Ferrero, this week's fifth seed, leveled Korean Hyung-Taik Lee 6-4, 6-1 and Baghdatis doused French crowd favorite Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-4. Baghdatis was last year's Marseille runner-up to France's Gilles Simon. The veteran Clement was the 2006 winner here.

Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka disappointed the home crowd by coming back to beat French veteran Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Wawrinka will face Murray in the round of 16.

Other Day-2 wins came for Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Julien Benneteau and Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili.

The 2008 Marseille titlist will collect $125,000. This week's top seeds are Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia and French star Richard Gasquet.