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HALLE, Germany – Philipp Kohlschreiber began the defense of his Gerry Weber Open title with a win over wild card Dustin Brown in an all-German matchup Monday.
The 163rd-ranked Brown twice pushed Kohlschreiber to a tiebreaker before the eighth-seeded defending champion won 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in 1 hour, 23 minutes.
Canada's Milos Raonic was the other seeded player to play on the opening day of the grass-court tournament, playing later against last year's runner-up, Philipp Petzschner of Germany.
Rafael Nadal, who won his record seventh French Open title earlier Monday, and Roger Federer both have byes to the second round.
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