Dusseldorf, Germany – Veteran Finnish left-hander Jarkko Nieminen was an easy opening-round winner Monday at the inaugural $530,000 Power Horse Cup, a final French Open tune-up.
The sixth seed blew past Slovak Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-1 on the red clay at Rochusclub, which used to play host to the ATP World Team tournament.
Also on Day 2, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut overcame Luxembourg's Gilles Muller 2-6, 6-4, 6-2; Brazilian qualifier Andre Ghem leveled Japanese Go Soeda 6-4, 6-0; Argentine Guido Pella defeated Polish fellow qualifier Lukasz Kubot, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; and Germany's own Tobias Kamke topped wild card and fellow countryman Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-2.
This week's top seeds are Serb Janko Tipsarevic and long-time German favorite Tommy Haas. The world No. 10 Tipsarevic will face Pella in his opener here.
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