MADRID: Home favourite Marcel Granollers was the main casualty on the opening day of the Barcelona Open as the tournament got underway amidst murky, grey skies in Catalonia.
The Spaniard was beaten 7-5 4-6 6-4 by Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who will face second seed Alexander Zverev in the second round.
Elsewhere, Fernando Verdasco beat fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-4 6-3 on the Rafa Nadal Court, while Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman came back from a set down to see off Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6 6-4 6-2.
Leonardo Mayer beat big-serving Romanian Marius Copil 6-3 6-7(3) 7-5 to set up a second round meeting with 11-times champion and top seed Rafael Nadal.