Qualifier Cipolla defeats Wawrinka

CHENNAI (Reuters) - Swiss second seed Stanislas Wawrinka lost 6-4 6-1 to Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla in the first round of the Chennai Open on Tuesday.

World number 138 Cipolla won in 95 minutes against the error-prone Swiss, who is ranked 16th in the world.

World number five Nikolay Davydenko defeated Austrian Daniel Koellerer 6-2 6-3 in his opening match in a positive start to his preparations for the Australian Open in Melbourne this month.

The Russian top seed will meet Czech wildcard Lukas Dlouhy on Wednesday.

Fourth seed Croatian Ivo Karlovic pounded 10 aces to dismantle qualifier Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-4 6-3 to make a winning start to the new season.

After a series of unforced errors, 23-year-old Wawrinka, who broke into the top 10 last year, trailed 4-1 in the opening set.

The Swiss number two, who won the doubles gold at last year's Beijing Olympics along with Roger Federer, clawed back to 4-5 in the first set but could not find the consistency to overcome an opponent he beat at the U.S. Open last year.

The 27-year-old Davydenko won the opening set with breaks in the sixth and eighth games.

But the energetic Koellerer, ranked 123rd in the world, put up some late resistance in the second set and entertained the spectators with some delicate drop shots.