Rotterdam, The Netherlands (SportsNetwork.com) – No. 2 seed Milos Raonic
and reigning champion Tomas Berdych were a pair of opening-round winners
Tuesday at the $1.825 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
The Canadian slugger Raonic swatted 19 aces and overcame Russian qualifier
Andrey Kuznetsov 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 7-5, while the third-seeded Berdych resumed
his winning ways here with a 6-1, 7-5 handling of German lucky loser Tobias
Kamke at Ahoy Rotterdam.
Up next for Raonic will be Italian Simone Bolelli.
Berdych beat reigning U.S. Open titlist Marin Cilic in last year’s Rotterdam
finale.
Meanwhile, eighth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon grounded Portuguese Joao Sousa
5-7, 6-3, 6-2 and unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils dismissed qualifier
compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-2 on Day 2. Monfils will face
seventh-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut on Wednesday.
Also on Tuesday, Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky held off Spaniard Marcel
Granollers 6-2, 7-6 (9-7), Canadian Vasek Pospisil doused German Philipp
Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2 and Jeremy Chardy was tied with fellow Frenchman
Julien Benneteau 3-3 in the first set when the 2013 Rotterdam runner-up
Benneteau retired from their bout.
In some more first-round action on Wednesday, top-seeded Australian Open
runner-up and 2009 Rotterdam titlist Andy Murray will take on French qualifier
Nicolas Mahut and fourth-seeded former Aussie Open champ Stan Wawrinka will
battle Dutch wild card Jesse Huta Galung.
The 2015 Rotterdam champ will earn $405,000.
