Black Tennis Pro's

VIENNA -- Third-seeded Gael Monfils of France beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in a straight-set, first-round match Wednesday at the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy in Vienna.

Monfils, the tournament's 2008 runner-up, defeated his Spanish foe 7-5, 6-4, winning 79 percent of service points and hitting seven aces.

If Monfils, a Paris native, wins the Vienna event, he will earn 160 points in his effort to qualify for the season-ending men's singles final at London next month.

Monfils, provisional 16th, faces long odds to make it into one of the two spots remaining for the ATP World Tour Final starting November 22 in London. But he says the chase is the last thing on his mind as he competes at the event where he lost the 2008 final.

"I'm really not thinking about London, not at all. I'm more excited about maybe winning a title here after missing it last year.

"I hope to play well here and next week in Valencia - maybe I can grab the title in Bercy (Paris Masters), that would help."