Tennis: Bautista Agut beats Safiullin in Barcelona
he Spaniard, who is chasing his 12th ATP Tour crown this week, will meet seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the second round.
France made two changes as injured Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Gael Monfils were sidelined for a highly-anticipated clash with Britain in next month's Davis Cup quarter-finals.
According to the French Tennis Federation, Herbert suffered a thigh muscle injury while Monfils had ankle and knee problems. They were replaced by Julien Benneteau and Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.
World number 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whose wife recently gave birth to a baby, will be absent for the match to be held from April 7-9 in Rouen, France. The hosts will also be without the experienced Richard Gasquet.
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Gilles Simon and Lucas Pouille will possibly feature in singles matches and Nicolas Mahut and Benneteau in the doubles. Chardy will be a substitute.
However, French captain Yannick Noah may still make a last-minute changes to the team.
Britain, who lead the head-to-head record at 12-9, will be without world number one Andy Murray due to an elbow injury.
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