"After he broke me in the second game of the third set, he started playing unbelievable tennis. He was more confident and hit everything hard," said Danai who also made an early exit in last week's tournament in Casablanca.

Like Tamarine Tanasugarn and Paradorn Srichaphan, clay is not Danai's favourite surface and the Thai said he never regarded himself as a strong contender on the dirt court.

"I can play on clay but it's tough for me to beat those guys who are specialists on this surface. Their technique is much better than mine," said Danai, who next week will enter a Challenger in Prague which will be on clay.

Paul-Henri Mathieu upset fourth seed Fernando Gonzalez 6-2 6-4 to lead a one-two knockout punch for France.

The unseeded Mathieu beat world No 6 Gonzalez for the third time in a row as he stunned the slumping Chilean.

Mathieu, winner at the weekend of the Casablanca title, was joined in the second round by compatriot Richard Gasquet.

The fifth seed continued his early-season progress on clay as he defeated Max Mirnyi 6-3 6-3.

The French youngster beat the big Belarussian for the second time after winning the Nottingham title on grass against the East European two years ago.

Mathieu has cast a spell over Gonzalez after beating the South American in three straight meetings dating back to 2005.

"It's good to be able to beat a guy in the Top ten, it gives you confidence," said world No 42 Mathieu, now 4-1 in 2007 against Top ten players after beating Gonzalez twice and Estoril top seed Nikolay Davydenko in Sydney and in the Davis Cup.