Pospisil remains on Murray path
Canada’s Vasek Pospisil beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round of the ABN AMRO ATP event in Rotterdam to set up a potential second round meeting with Andy Murray.
Pospisil dispatched his German opponent in two sets 6-4 6-2 and will now meet the winner of the match between top seed Andy Murray and Nicholas Mahut.
Also in the afternoon session, second-seed Milos Raonic survived a scare against Russian qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov to progress to second round in three sets 6-7 6-1 7-5. Canada’s No 1 will play Simone Bolleli for a place in the quarter-finals.
“It’s about fighting through,” Raonic told www.atpworldtour.com. “I kept my attitude together, which allowed me to get my game and find answers towards the end, and that’s why I was able to win.”
Third seed Tomas Berdych had an easier time of it with the Czech brushing aside lucky loser Tobias Kamke 6-1 7-5 while Philipp Kohlschreiber was another German to taste defeat, losing 6-4 6-2 to Vasek Pospisil.
Eighth seed Gilles Simon was taken to three sets by Joao Sousa before eventually triumphing 5-7 6-3 6-2 and will next face fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who was level at 3-3 in the first set with Julien Benneteau before his opponent retired.
There was another all-French battle as Gael Monfils beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3 6-2 and Sergiy Stakhovsky advanced against Marcel Granollers 6-2 7-6 (9/7).
The Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky booked a second round spot with a 6-2 7-6 (9-7) win over Spain’s Marcel Granollers. Stakhovsky will play Dominic Thiem for a place in the quarter-finals.
France’s Jeremy Chardy will meet his compatriot Simon in the second round after his opponent, another Frenchman, Julien Benneteau retired with injury.
Andrey Kuznetsov won the first set on a tie-break but the second seed fought back to win 6-7 (5/7) 6-1 7-5 and set up a clash against Simone Bolelli.
Meanwhile, Murray pulled out of the doubles competition after his partner Gilles Muller withdrew with sickness.
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