Dustin Brown beats Gilles Simon at Open Sud de France

MONTPELLIER, France (AP) Third-seeded Gilles Simon lost his opening match at the Open Sud de France in straight sets Thursday, struggling to return Dustin Brown's serves in a 6-4, 6-4 loss.

Simon, who pushed Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic to five sets in the fourth round last month, was broken four times.

Brown had 10 aces, saved both break points he faced and won 83 percent of the points played on his first serve.

He next plays Ruben Bemelmans, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over Jan-Lennard Struff.

Although Struff had 14 aces, he failed to convert any of his eight break-point chances.