Richard Gasquet raced through his opening round match in Marseille, crushing Go Soeda 6-0, 6-2 in just over an hour.
Another Frenchman to make it through to the next round was Wimbledon iron man Nicolas Mahut, who ousted fellow countryman Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-4.
Paul-Henri Mathieu also lost his comeback match, falling to Karol Beck 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 in a tight encounter that lasted close to three hours.
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