Tennis bits: Milos Raonic ‘happy with how I fought’ in Rotterdam comeback

Milos Raonic fell in the first set against qualifier Alexander Kuznetsov at the packed ATP Rotterdam Open on Tuesday but managed to avoid a disappointing defeat.

Milos Raonic of Canada plays a shot to Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia during their match at the Rotterdam Open on Tuesday. Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images / February 10, 2015

ATP Rotterdam

Second seed Milos Raonic secured a comeback win in a successful debut at the ATP Rotterdam Open, beating Russian qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 7-5 on Tuesday.

Raonic hammered 19 aces – the last on match points – to reach the second round against the world No 88 challenger.

The Canadian lost the opening set in a tie-breaker before steadying to earn victory in just under two hours. He next plays Italy’s Simone Bolelli.

“It can be tough to adapt to match conditions, As a qualifier, Kuznetsov already had two matches on this surface.

“I was behind, but I’m happy with how I fought today. That’s the most important thing for me,” said the seed, who struck 46 winners.

Holder Tomas Berdych started with a defeat of Tobias Kamke 6-1, 7-5, winning with 11 aces in just under 90 minutes.

French eighth seed Gilles Simon overcame a slow start to defeat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

The French No 2, a semi-finalist at the Ahoy Stadium in 2008 and 2013, was joined in the second round by his compatriot Jeremy Chardy, who advanced as another countryman Julien Benneteau retired 3-3 with a leg injury.

Simon wore down the resistance of Portugal’s Sousa in just under two-and-a-half hours.

The Frenchman saved eight break points and fired eight aces in a laboured victory.

“It was a really difficult match,” said the 19th-ranked winner, who rode a roller-coaster of match momentum against a dangerous No 46 opponent.

“I got on top of him in the first set, but he came back to win the set,” from 5-2 down.

“In the second set I had to come from a break down. I was not particularly happy with my game, but my only solution was to fight as much as possible.

“Finally, I got through this one.”

Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky reached the second round over Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) while Canadian Vasek Pospisil spent just an hour in a winning debut with a defeat of German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2.

Pospisil, the reigning Wimbledon doubles champion, broke Kohlschreiber three times on the way to his fourth win of 2015. The Canadian broke the German twice in the second set in what he called a perfect performance.

“I played a flawless match, I did everything well,” said the ATP No 59. “My forehand and return were both working. I didn’t do much wrong today.”

Pospisil will next face the winner from top seed Andy Murray, who plays on Wednesday against France’s Nicolas Mahut. Gael Monfils beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin in a French battle 6-3, 6-2.

ATP Memphis

Croatian fifth seed Ivo Karlovic advanced to the second round of the ATP Memphis Open on Tuesday, blasting 23 aces to defeat Slovakian Lukas Lacko 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.

Karlovic, ranked 25th, had won their only prior meeting in the first round at Wimbledon in 2009. The big-serving 35-year-old will next face US qualifier Austin Krajicek, who outlasted Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (10/8).

Also booking a date in the round of 16 was Australian Bernard Tomic, who rallied to oust Dutchman Igor Sijsling 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Tomic, a 22-year-old German-born Aussie ranked 49th in the world, surrendered two service breaks in the opening set but saved 5-of-6 break points over the final two sets while breaking four times, three in the final set.

Tomic, who also won their first meeting last month at Sydney, advanced to a matchup with Ukranian fourth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, who received a first-round bye along with Japanese top seed Kei Nishikori, South African second seed Kevin Anderson and US third seed John Isner.

US qualifier Ryan Harrison reached a second-round matchup with Nishikori by defeating Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/1).

WTA Antwerp

Mona Barthel made easy work of qualifier Klaartje Liebens, 6-2, 6-0 on Tuesday, to set up a second round meeting with top seed Eugenie Bouchard at the Proximus Diamond Games.

She was joined by a string of upset winners, including local hopeful Alison van Uytvanck, who defeated Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2, 6-3. Van Uytvanck (world No 102) overcame Rybarikova despite their 55-place difference in the WTA rankings.

Annika Beck also topped the higher-ranked Karin Knapp in straight sets, as did Francesca Schiavone to Klara Koukalova.

World No 19 Alize Cornet avoided the same fate, fighting off Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic for a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory.

Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova also advanced to the second round.

ATP Sao Paulo

Local favourite Joao Souza managed to beat the higher-ranked Pablo Carreno-Busta on Tuesday at the Brasil Open to give the home crowd someone to root for in the second round.

World No 110 Souza entered the tournament as a wild card and will now face eighth-seeded Martin Klizan.

He was joined as a surprise winner by Dutch Thiemo De Bakker. The world No 142 topled No 65 Juan Monaco 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4. De Bakker will have a decent shot at reaching the quarter-finals after world No 149 Luca Vanni replaced top seed Feliciano Lopez in the tournament in the second round.

Second-seeded Tommy Robredo, meanwhile, will face a stiff challenge from countryman Nicolas Almagro, after the latter beat Blaz Rola 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 on Tuesday.

In the first round’s all-Argentine match, Facundo Bagnis defeated Federico Delbonis 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

Dusan Lajovic, Diego Schwartzman, Carlos Berlocq and Albert Ramos were also among the early winners.

Seeds Santiago Giraldo, Fernando Verdasco and Klizan also made it to the second round, the former two with little trouble before the latter was taken to three sets by another Brazilian, Thomaz Bellucci.

WTA Pattaya

Chinese No 1 Peng Shuai faced little trouble in reaching the second round of the Thailand Open on Tuesday, beating Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 6-2.

The tournamen’s top seed faces Japanese Misaki Doi on Wednesday in the second round, after she beat local wild card Tanarube Tanasugarn in straight sets.

The third seed, Zarina Diyas, was bounced out by Daniela Hantuchova, while the other seeded players who haven’t dropped out – Monica Puig, Kurumi Nara, Jarmila Gajdosova and Zhang Shuai – advanced comfortably.

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