France's Monfils upended by Almagro in Barcelona

BARCELONA, Apr 25 (Reuters) Promising French teenager Gael Monfils was sent packing from the Barcelona Open today, beaten 6-2 6-4 in the second round by unseeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

The 19-year-old led 4-2 in the second set but Almagro broke the Monfils serve twice in succession before serving out for victory.

He will now play the winner of the match between Argentine third seed Guillermo Coria and Spanish wildcard Galo Blanco.

In other matches, ninth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic battled back to beat Albert Montanes of Spain 4-6 7-5 7-5 in a first-round match.

Italians Filippo Volandri and Potito Starace and Croatian Ivo Karlovic were among the other first-round winners.

Later on Tuesday, fifth seed David Ferrer takes on 18-year-old Briton Andy Murray for a place in round three.

REUTERS PDS HT2057