Paul-Henri Mathieu, Andreas Seppi make early exits from Eastbourne tournament

Mathieu, Seppi make early exits from Eastbourne

EASTBOURNE, England — Paul-Henri Mathieu and Andreas Seppi lost in straight sets Sunday on the opening day at Eastbourne, a grass-court tuneup for Wimbledon.

Mathieu, seeded third, fell 6-4, 6-2 to Janko Tipsarevic. Seppi, seeded seventh, was beaten 7-6 (4), 7-5 by Ivan Ljubicic.

Also, Robby Ginepri downed Andrey Golubev 6-3, 6-4, and Denis Istomin defeated Kevin Kim 7-6 (5), 7-5.

The tournament, a leadup to the June 22 start of Wimbledon, features men and women for the first time. The men’s draw has only two players in the top 30. Seven of the top 10 women are competing, with top-ranked Dinara Safina and Serena and Venus Williams absent.