Almagro progresses in Madrid

Nicolas Almagro battled back from a set down to see off Santiago Giraldo 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the Madrid Masters on Monday.

The 11th seed overcame the Colombian qualifier in two hours and nine minutes to record his 17th clay-court win of the season, more than any other player on the ATP Tour this year.

However, the Spaniard was not completely happy afterwards, complaining about the state of the blue clay courts being used for the tournament at the Magic Box Arena.

"Being so close to Roland Garros, we would prefer to play on red clay. This surface isn't in the best of conditions," Almagro said.

"It is very slippery and I hope there aren't any injuries."

American Ryan Harrison celebrated his 20th birthday by beating Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets - his reward is a showdown with fourth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Meanwhile, Daniel Gimeno-Traver set up a clash with Novak Djokovic in the second round with a 7-6 4-6 6-3 triumph over fellow qualifier Victor Hanescu of Romania.

Russian Igor Andreev overcame former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4 7-6 (7-4) while his compatriot Mikhail Youzhny progressed past Javier Marti by a 6-3 6-2 scoreline.

However, Marcos Baghdatis suffered an early exit, losing to Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4 3-6 6-4.