Hernandez upsets Mathieu in Casablanca first round

Oscar Hernandez of Spain earned his first victory since September by upsetting fifth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 7-6 (7), 6-3 in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II on Monday.

Potito Starace of Italy and Marcel Granollers of Spain also advanced to the second round. Starace beat Peter Luczak of Australia 6-3, 7-5, while Granollers edged Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5).

Hernandez converted his only two break chances to end a 12-match losing streak on the ATP World Tour, including all eight this year in straight sets. Mathieu, the 2007 champion, squandered four of his five break opportunities.

The Frenchman received a wild card after coming back from an offseason groin injury that prevented him from starting the season until last month. He lost to Hernandez for first time in four matches.

Hernandez will play Starace, who also turned a corner by ending a run of seven opening-round defeats by beating Luczak.

Cibulkova beats Czink in Ponte Vedra first round

Third-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia beat Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of The MPS Group Championships.

"The first match is always tough so I didn't know what to expect," Cibulkova said. "I was moving her around and I was playing pretty solid today."

Cibulkova broke Czink four times in four chances and won 69 percent of her first-serve points. She won only 32 percent of her first-return points.

France's Rezai reaches second round in Marbella

Fourth-seeded Aravane Rezai of France has advanced to the second round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.

Rezai was the only seeded player in action to open the outdoor clay court event at the Club de Tennis Puente Romano. Kim Clijsters, a recent winner in Miami, also is in the field.