Istanbul, Turkey (SportsNetwork.com) - Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil and Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev were first-round winners Monday on the first day of play at the inaugural Istanbul Open.
In the only two main draw matches Monday, Bellucci knocked off seventh-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, and Golubev made short work of wild card Nikoloz Basilashvili in a 6-1, 6-3 rout.
The top seeds for this first-year event are Roger Federer and Grigor Dimitrov. Both have first-round byes, as do third-seeded Pablo Cuevas and fourth-seeded Santiago Giraldo.
Federer hasn't played since a surprising third-round loss to Gael Monfils in Monte Carlo earlier this month. The Swiss superstar could find himself the villain in his first outing this week with a potential second-round match against home crowd favorite Marsel Ilhan. The Istanbul resident, though, will first have to beat Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen in his opening-round match.
Dimitrov, who also fell to Monfils in the quarterfinals at Monte Carlo, will face Golubev in his opening match later this week.
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