BARCELONA, Spain (AP) Evgeny Donskoy of Russia defeated Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 7-5, 7-6 (5) to advance to the second round of the Barcelona Open on Monday.
Elsewhere, crowds welcomed newly-crowned Monte Carlo Masters champion and eight-time Barcelona Open winner Rafael Nadal as he arrived at the club.
Nadal has a bye into the next round, where he will play the winner of the match between Marcel Granollers and Daniel Munoz de la Nava.
Nadal said he realized he wouldn't be able to go on winning in Barcelona indefinitely, but his victory in Monte Carlo had given him great confidence.
In other first-round matches, Malek Jaziri of Tunisia eased past Chung Hey-on of South Korea 6-3, 6-4 and Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic recovered to beat Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
