The first day of the inaugural Istanbul Open delivered an early upset as seventh seed Mikhail Youzhny bowed out in straight sets to Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci.

Seventh seed Youzhny was powerless to avoid a 10th defeat of 2015 as he succumbed to a 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 loss in the Turkish capital.

Having bowed out in the round of 32 in Barcelona last week, Bellucci was sluggish early and found himself 5-2 down in the first set.

However, the world number 74 fought back to move ahead on a tie-break before finding his feet in the second with an early break.

Winning all but one point on his first serve in the second set, Bellucci ensured progression after less than 90 minutes on court - racking up a third straight victory over Youzhny in the process. 

Bellucci will face Denis Istomin or Benoit Paire in the next round.

In the day's first encounter, Andrey Golubev set up a second-round tie with second seed Grigor Dimitrov after easing past Georgian wildcard Nikoloz Basilashvili in straight sets.

Dimitrov is targeting a fifth ATP World Tour title and can move within one win of 150 career victories when he faces Golubev.

The world number 117 will likely have his work cut out, but warmed up in strong fashion - saving five break-points on his way to a 6-1 6-3 success.

Having fallen behind early, Golubev reeled off the final six games of the first set and was rarely troubled in the second - breaking Basilashvili once more to seal a second-round berth.