Ferrer rallies to win Hamburg opener

Published February 05, 2015

Hamburg, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - David Ferrer rallied for a three-set victory Tuesday to highlight second-round play at the Bet-at-Home Open.

The top-seeded Spaniard struggled early before finding his form to claim a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin. He won the final five games of the match and improved to 5-0 lifetime against Kukushkin, including three wins this year.

Ferrer and the other 15 seeded players received first-round byes in the clay- court tournament.

Other seeded winners Tuesday were 2006 Hamburg champion Tommy Robredo of Spain and Colombia's Santiago Giraldo. The third-seeded Robredo eased past countrymate Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-2, 7-5, while the 11th-seeded Giraldo earned a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 win over Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Austrian Dominic Thiem took out eighth-seeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers, saving a match point in a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 comeback.

First-round play also concluded Tuesday and 2012 Hamburg winner Juan Monaco of Argentina was among those advancing. Monaco needed just 54 minutes in a 6-3, 6-1 rout of Spain's Pere Riba. He'll next face 16th-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi, with the winner to face Ferrer in the third round.

Poland's Jerzy Janowicz rolled through the first set against Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas before capturing a 6-0, 7-5 victory, while 17-year-old German wild card Alexander Zverev picked up his first ATP Tour win in a 6-0, 6-2 thumping of Dutchman Robin Haase.

Slovakia's Martin Klizan outlasted Dutchman Igor Sijsling in three sets, winning the third 6-0, and Argentina's Leonardo Mayer knocked off German Peter Gojowczk in straight sets.

Second-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini starts defense of his title against Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic in one of 12 second-round matches on Wednesday's schedule.

URL

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