Safin, Clement, Grosjean notch wins in Metz

Metz, France (Sports Network) - Former world No. 1 Marat Safin and veteran French favorites Arnaud Clement and Sebastian Grosjean were among Wednesday's winners at the Open de Moselle tennis event.

The unseeded Safin ousted his fourth-seeded fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 6-4 in 59 minutes in first-round action at Les Arenes de Metz. Both Safin and Youzhny were part of the Russian Davis Cup team that beat the United States in a semifinal showdown in Moscow last month.

Safin's second-round opponent here will be Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

Clement and Safin also posted opening-round victories, as the 2003 Metz champion Clement handled Belgian Xavier Malisse 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 and Grosjean grounded German Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4. Up next for Clement will be his fifth- seeded fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet, while Grosjean will encounter his countryman Julien Benneteau.

In second-round action, Florent Serra surprised his fellow Frenchman Paul- Henri Mathieu 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) and French wild card Marc Gicquel took out Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-3. Serra and Gicquel will square off in Friday's quarterfinals.

One other first-round bout saw Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo upset his seventh-seeded fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3.