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LOS ANGELES -- Florent Serra of France defeated Fernando Verdasco and Germany's Denis Gremelmayr beat Feliciano Lopez on an afternoon of upsets at the Countrywide Classic on Wednesday.
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Serra ousted the second-seeded Spaniard Verdasco, hampered by a sore ankle, 6-2, 7-6 (4). Gremelmayr took a 7-5, 7-5 victory over No. 4-seeded Lopez, also from Spain.
Sixth-seeded Mardy Fish came back strong after losing the first set to take a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-0 win over fellow American Vince Spadea, while in a night match, No. 5 seed Marat Safin of Russia advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Wayne Odesnik of the United States.
American top seed Andy Roddick will open play Thursday night against Dusan Vemic after Donald Young, a 19-year-old who upset defending champion Tommy Haas in the first round, faces Marc Gicquel in an afternoon match.
Verdasco, No. 12 in the ATP rankings, double-faulted 10 times, including the final point of the match.
After the defeat, the Spaniard limped into the interview room and was gracious in his comments about Serra and hesitant to use his tender right ankle as an excuse.
"He played very good," Verdasco said. "When I played short, he made long shots, hit good winners. Maybe I was not 100 percent, with the ankle. I tried."
Serra, ranked No. 75, said Verdasco was the best player he has beaten this year.
"I felt very good," Serra said. "Hopefully, I will be here through the weekend."
Gremelmayr saved seven of eight break points in his win over Lopez.
"It was a tough match. It's a very good win for me," said Gremelmayr, a German ranked 89th.
