Top seed Andy Roddick slumped to a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 4-6 defeat to 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 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Frenchman Richard Gasquet boosted his bid to qualify for the Masters Cup with a 7-6 (5), 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 told reporters. "The court is also faster than last year which does not suit me.

"I now need to reach the semifinals 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.

Santoro, who won his first career ATP tour title in Lyon in 1997, faced only two break points against Roddick and prevailed after just over two hours on the Lyon carpet.

The 34-year-old French veteran, whose title at Newport, Rhode Island, in July, was his first in six years on tour, advanced to face compatriot Sebastien Grosjean, who dispatched another Frenchman Rodolphe Cadart 6-3, 6-2.

In Linz, Austria, second seed Daniela Hantuchova beat Argentina's Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-1 yesterday to reach the quarterfinals at the Generali Ladies.

An early break was enough for the 10th-ranked Slovakian to win the first set. In the second, Hantuchova broke three times and dropped only two points on her serve to close out the match.

Hantuchova will next meet either Eleni Daniilidou or Alona Bondarenko.

Julia Vakulenko saved 10 of 11 break points to beat Ai Sugiyama 6-0, 6-2. She will now play either third seed Marion Bartoli or Tamira Paszek.

In St. Petersburg, Russia, top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday to advance to the second round at the St. Petersburg Open.

Davydenko, who withdrew from the Madrid Masters last week because of a right elbow injury, broke the 44th-ranked Italian two times in the first set.

Volandri broke the Russian to trail 1-3 in the second set before losing three straight games.

Fifth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia also advanced, rallying to beat Boris Pashanski of Serbia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

(Shanghai Daily via AgenciesOctober 26, 2007)