The third seed, playing her first clay tournament in almost three years after a two-year break to give birth to daughter Jada, had needed three sets to get past Alexandra Dulgheru on Wednesday and lost 7-5 4-6 6-4 to the little known Spaniard.

World number 10 Clijsters squandered three set points in the first set and broke serve twice in the third but left-hander Garcia Vidagany won 11 of the last 14 points to seal a memorable victory in her first appearance in a main draw on the tour.

Clijsters had ended American Venus Williams's [ Images ] 15-match winning streak with a 6-2 6-1 victory on hard court in Miami [ Images ] last week before flying across the Atlantic and switching surfaces for the tournament in southern Spain.

In another upset on Thursday, unseeded Italian Sara Errani knocked out seventh-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues, coming through 6-1 7-6.

Second seed Flavia Pennetta [ Images ] of Italy [ Images ] cruised past Spanish qualifier Laura Pous Tio 6-2 6-2 and top-seeded Bulgarian Victoria Azarenka [ Images ] takes on another Spaniard, wildcard Estrella Cabeza Candela, later on Thursday.