Former No.1 Lleyton Hewitt knocked out Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3 6-4 in the opening round of the Valencia Open on Monday, ending a 10-match losing run against top-10 ATP opponents.
The Australian wild card broke the 10th-ranked Monaco twice in the opening set and three times in the second at the indoor hard-court tournament.
The loss makes it difficult for the Argentine to qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Hewitt will face Ivan Dodig after the Croatian qualifier beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-2 7-6 (8-6).
Fernando Verdasco beat Tommy Robredo 6-3 6-4 in an all-Spanish match. He will play Marin Cilic of Croatia.