Tuesday, July 11 2006 15:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Newport: Fourth seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg and US fifth seed Vince Spadea, last year's runner-up, were ousted here Monday in the first round of the ATP Hall of Fame Championships.

Robert Kendrick, ranked 186th, fired seven aces to defeat compatriot Spadea 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 while Chile's Paul Capdeville dumped Muller 7-6 (9/7), 6-2.

Britain's Greg Rusedski, who is not defending his crown, beat Spadea in the 2005 final of the 380,000-dollar grass-court tournament.

Kendrick came off a five-set Wimbledon loss in the second round to eventual runner-up Rafael Nadal.

Awaiting the 26-year-old in the second round is Russian Igor Kunitsyn, who ousted American Bobby Reynolds 7-5, 6-2 in another opener at the 32-player event.

South African Rik De Voest advanced by beating Poland's Lukasz Kubot 6-2, 6-2. De Voest will next face either Australian wild card Mark Philippoussis or US third seed Paul Goldstein.

Also moving to the round of 16 was Austrian sixth seed Jurgen Melzer, who beat Romania's Razvan Sabau 7-5, 7-5.

Scottish teen Andy Murray, rated a career-best 35th after a fourth-round run at Wimbledon, will try to become the first top-seeded player in more than 30 years to win the Newport crown.

His first foe will be Ricardo Mello, a Brazilian seeking a first grass win.