Den Bosch, The Netherlands (SportsNetwork.com) - Second seed Fernando Verdasco and reigning champion Nicolas Mahut were among Tuesday's first-round winners at the Topshelf Open, a final grass-court Wimbledon tune-up.
The left-handed Spaniard Verdasco overcame Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while the seventh-seeded Mahut, of France, snuck past Belgian wild card Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Day 3 at Autotron Rosmalen.
Mahut upset reigning Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka in last year's Den Bosch finale.
In other action involving seeds, No. 3 Roberto Bautista Agut whipped fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1, 6-3 and No. 8 Austrian Jurgen Melzer handled last week's Halle runner-up Alejandro Falla, of Colombia, 6-4, 6-3.
Additional wins came for Portuguese qualifier Joao Sousa, Croatian qualifier Mate Pavic and German Jan-Lennard Struff.
In some second-round action on Wednesday, Verdasco will meet Dutch wild card Jesse Huta Galung and Mahut will take on American Steve Johnson.
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