Top seed Gael Monfils advances in SA Tennis Open

"I feel real good — physically the shots were there and so was the head," said Monfils, who is ranked No. 12 in the world. "I was a bit worried about the altitude, playing so high above sea level, and I tightened my racket strings but it wasn't a problem.

"This is fast tennis because the ball travels faster at altitude. You come up to the net more. It's fun."

Third seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain needed three sets to beat Monaco's Benjamin Balleret but two of the other leading seeds fell Tuesday.

Fourth seed Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to Dustin Brown of Jamaica and India's Somdev Devvarman upset sixth seed Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-4, 6-2. Lopez sealed a hard-fought 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victory to set up a second-round match with Slovakia's Blaz Kavcic, who eliminated France's Thierry Ascione on Monday.

"It was a really hot day and I found it difficult to keep up the intensity," Lopez said. "After 45 minutes I was really feeling tired, and three double-faults and a few loose shots cost me the second-set tiebreaker. Still, I fought back in the third set when I served well and looking back it was a good win."

Josselin Ouanna beat Israel's Harel Levy 7-6 (4), 6-2, and David Guez went down 6-4, 6-3 to South African wildcard Raven Klaasen.

Seventh seed Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei beat Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-2.

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