Gasquet beats Berdych in Madrid opener

Tomas Berdych's poor run of form continued when he was beaten in the first round of the Madrid Open by the unseeded Richard Gasquet.

Frenchman Gasquet, the world No.29, defeated the 12th-seeded Berdych 6-4 6-2.

Berdych has slipped to 17th in the rankings after failing to advance beyond the quarter-finals in all but one of his tournaments this year and will be worried about his French Open prospects after succumbing to back-to-back first round defeats on clay.

Gasquet, who reached the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals last month, dominated Berdych throughout the contest to reach the second round in Madrid for a fifth consecutive year.

In Sunday's only other match, Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov marked his tournament debut with a 6-1 6-4 win over American Tennys Sandgren to progress to the second round.

The 19-year-old Shapovalov, who enjoyed a breakthrough season last year, has an underwhelming 12-10 win-loss record this campaign but is aiming to compete in the French Open main draw for the first time in his fledgling career.