Argentina's Guillermo Coria suffered a defeat in the opening round of the Movistar Open on his return to the ATP Tour.
Seeds find the early going too hot to handle in Chile
Argentina's Guillermo Coria suffered a defeat in the opening round of the Movistar Open on his comeback from injury.
The former world number three was beaten 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas in his first ATP Tour match since the 2006 US Open.
It appeared he was heading for a straight sets defeat when he found himself 2-4 down in the second set before he rallied to win the next five games.
Although he went on to lose the deciding set, Coria was not too disappointed with his display after such a long period off the court.
Comeback
"I'm very happy with my performance," he said.
"I believe my real comeback started today. The serve was much better. I did serve a few double faults but they were not out by much. It was different from before when I made ugly double faults.
"I need to win a few matches to get my confidence back. My goal for this season is to play as many matches as possible and to be back in the top 10 next year."
Juan Monaco had to battle back from losing the first set to defeat Nicolas Lapentti 2-6 6-3 6-4 in his opening contest.
The third seed from Argentina needed just over two-and-a-half hours to see off the challenge of the 2002 finalist.
The 23-year-old, who had fallen at the first hurdle in the event in both 2005 and 2006, secured the crucial break in the deciding set at 4-4 before serving out for the match.
Seeds tumble
Sixth seed Oscar Hernandez was not so fortunate, though, after the Spaniard was sent packing by Juan Pablo Brzezicki in straight sets.
Also bowing out was eighth seed and local favourite Nicolas Massu, who was beaten by Sergio Roitman of Argentina 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
The defeat means the Chilean won't be making a third consecutive final appearances at Vina del Mar.
Seventh seed Jose Acasuso had no such problems in his match against Peter Luczak, recording a 6-2 6-4 victory over the Australian.
