Istomin loses opener in Barcelona

Uzbek 18th seed Istomin lost 7-6(3) 6-4 to make an early exit from the tournament.

Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky came through his opening match against Russia's Evgeny Donskoy 6-2 6-3 to set up a second-round match against Britain's Andy Murray.

Eleventh seed Milos Raonic of Canada came safely through as he beat Colombia's Alejandro Falla 6-4 7-6(3).

Belgium's Steve Darcis also avoided a banana skin as he edged plucky qualifier Andrey Golubev in a two-and-a-half-hour epic, winning 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(5).