Verdasco through in Valencia

Valencia - Spain's Fernando Verdasco delighted the home crowd at the Valencia Open with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Michael Russell in the first round.

Verdasco, who won the tournament in 2004 when it was played on clay, broke the American qualifier five times on the hard indoor court at the City of Arts and Sciences.

The third-seeded Spaniard snapped a four-match losing streak and got his bid to qualify for the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals back on track in the process.

Stanislas Wawrinka came through a tough match with Andreas Seppi, winning 7-6 (2), 7-5 to join Verdasco in the second round.

First Round Results:

Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, def. Andreas Seppi, Italy, 7-6 (2), 7-5.
Fernando Verdasco (3), Spain, def. Michael Russell, United States, 6-4, 6-1.
Teymuraz Gabashvili, Russia, def. Arnaud Clement, France, 6-4, 6-2.
Gilles Simon, France, def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, 6-3, 6-3.