Fabrice Santoro

Lyon: Top seed Andy Roddick slumped to a 6-7, 6-2, 4-6 defeat at the hands of Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in the first round of the Lyon Grand Prix on Wednesday.

The American, though, has already qualified for next month’s season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Frenchman Richard Gasquet boosted his bid to qualify for the Masters Cup with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Belgian Christophe Rochus. Fourth seed Gasquet, who won the Lyon title last year, blasted Rochus off the court with 23 aces.

Gasquet is 11th in the ATP Race standings, eight points behind eighth-placed German Tommy Haas who holds the last qualifying spot for the Masters Cup.

“I’ve had a lot of physical problems lately with my elbow and knee,” Gasquet said . “The court is also faster than last year which does not suit me.

“I now need to reach the semis at least to score points in the (Masters Cup) race.”

Next week’s Masters Series event in Paris will be the last chance for Shanghai hopefuls.

Marc Gicquel of France, beaten by Gasquet in last year’s final, beat German Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-3 in a second-round match.

In the St Petersburg event, Russian third seed Mikhail Youzhny knocked out defending champion Mario Ancic with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Youzhny, the 2004 champion, earned one break in the first set and two more in the second to secure a quarter-final duel with seventh-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Ancic, who is returning to the top level after being forced to miss most of the year with mononucleosis and a shoulder injury, had reached the last eight at last week’s Madrid Masters but said he was feeling unwell before the match.

(Agencies)