Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 19: Simon Gruel, ranked 59th in the world and without a finals appearance all year, surprised Benjamin Becker Monday on the first day of the Stockholm Open.
Gruel defeated the sixth-seeded Becker 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to set up a second-round meeting with Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Garcia-Lopez took out Alberto Martin 6-3, 6-2.
No. 4 seed Juan Monaco survived an upset bid with a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 decision over Jan Hernych. In other first-round action, Joachim Johansson served 21 aces to defeat Peter Luczak 7-5, 6-2 and Leonardo Mayer ousted Albert Montanes 6-4, 6-3.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.