Sousa, Berlocq reach Hassan II 2nd round

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) Fifth-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal beat Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-4 on Monday to reach the second round of the Grand Prix Hassan II tournament.

Sousa broke Sijsling twice in each set and won 81 percent of his first-serve points and next plays against either David Goffin of Begium or Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena.

Carlos Berlocq of Argentina also advanced with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win against Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia.

Berlocq broke Gabashvili's serve four times. The Russian player struggled throughout on his serve, making eight double-faults and getting only 37 percent of his first serves in.

Berlocq next faces either eighth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain or Mikhail Kukushkin, who played for Kazakhstan in its 3-2 loss to Switzerland in their Davis Cup quarterfinal last weekend.