Chela knocked out in first round

Another Swiss hope, Ivo Heuberger, also made an early exit losing 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to Slovak Karol Kucera.

Despite the presence in Gstaad of Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero and Swiss favourite Roger Federer, all eyes will be on Nalbandian and Costa this week as they attempt to follow up their stunning achievements at Wimbledon and the French Open respectively. Argentine Nalandian became the first ever man to reach the championships final on his debut appearance and, although he fell in straight sets to champion Lleyton Hewitt on Sunday, the experience could mark a watershed in his nascent career.

The 20-year-old, who moved up to 15th in the ATP rankings on Monday after his Wimbledon heroics, faces fourth seeded Romanian Andrei Pavel in the first round on the clay of Gstaad.

Roland Garros champion Costa is top seed for the Swiss Open, and his first round match — against French qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu — will be his first competitive outing since beating Ferrero in the final in Paris last month. Like Spanish compatriot Corretja, Costa is aiming to underscore his love for clay by capturing his third Swiss Open crown. The Swiss title has gone to a Spaniard nine times in the last 11 years.

El Aynaoui struggles to advance

Bastad(Sweden): Moroccan second seed Younes El Aynaoui struggled to beat Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the first round of the Bastad tournament on Monday.

Seventh-seed Mariano Zabaleta also progressed in the $400,000 claycourt event after a tough encounter with Sweden’s 18-year-old wildcard Robin Soderling.

The Argentine eventually won 7-6, 7-6 after two close tie-breaks, while Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez, seeded sixth, beat the other Swedish wildcard Magnus Larsson 7-5, 6-3. Argentina’s Augustin Calleri produced the only upset of the day by beating Finnish fifth seed Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-4.

In an all-Spanish encounter, Albert Portas beat Fernando Vicente 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Czech Bohdan Ulihrach disposed of American Vincent Spadea 6-3, 6-1.