ROTTERDAM: Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and titleholder Felix Auger-Aliassime easily qualified for the second round of the Rotterdam ATP 500 tournament on Tuesday.
Tsitsipas, who was beaten in the Australian Open final by Novak Djokovic, took just over an hour and a half to beat Finnish player Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 6-1.
The Greek, ranked third in the world, next faces the winner of Wednesday’s match between Jannik Sinner and France’s Benjamin Bonzi.
Tsitsipas admitted he had initially struggled to find his groove.
“I had an opportunity in the last game (when Ruusuvuori led 5-3) to come back. I revived from that, I regenerated some awesome tennis and I recaptured that first set, which was crucial,” he said.
“I think from that point onwards it was flawless tennis. I was able to produce some really good shots.”
Tsitsipas shows fighting spirit at Australian Open
Auger-Aliassime, the third seed in Rotterdam, had no problem in dispatching the Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 6-3 as he hit his stride in the tournament where he beat Tsitsipas in the final last year.
In the next round the 22-year-old Canadian must overcome another French player, Gregoire Barrere, who eliminated David Goffin in the first round.
Another contender for the title, Daniil Medvedev, fought back from a set down to beat Alejandro Davidovich of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, ranked number 10 in the world, defeated veteran Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in a three-hour contest.
Alexander Zverev, still on the comeback trial after suffering an injury in the French Open last year, overcame South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
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