Corretja suffers early exit

Alex Corretja made a surprise exit from the Barcelona Open when he was defeated by Spanish wild card Nicolas Almagro 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.

But Argentina's Gaston Gaudio, winner of the tournament in 2002, had no such problems as he eased to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Dutchman Raemon Sluiter to set up a second round tie against Alexander Popp of Germany.

Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti beat Austria's Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-1.

Lapentti was meant to face top seed Guillermo Coria in the second round but the Argentine, who won the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday, has withdrawn through injury and will be replaced by last year's French Open quarter finalist, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.