Australian No.2 Matthew Ebden is into the second round of the Halle Open after beating Malek Jaziri in straight sets.
The South African-born 30-year-old was ruthless in the opening set against the Tunisian before taking a tight second set in a tiebreak to win 6-0 7-6 (7-2) on Tuesday in Germany's northwest.
Ebden next faces German Philipp Kohlschreiber, whose match against Marton Fucsovics was evenly poised when the Hungarian was forced to retire with Kohlschreiber 2-1 up in the deciding third set.
Kohlschreiber holds a 1-0 advantage over the West Australian, with their only previous meeting coming at the 2012 French Open.
Defending champion Roger Federer continued his fine run on grass ahead of Wimbledon, beating Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-4 to make it 17 in a row on his favourite surface.
The 36-year-old Swiss, who reclaimed the No.1 ranking by winning the Stuttgart title last week, broke his 72nd-ranked opponent in the second game and maintained the advantage to claim the first set.
Federer dropped just eight points on his serve and was hardly troubled in a one-sided contest as he converted a decisive break point in the ninth game of the second set to march to victory in just over an hour.
"I got out of the box well, I felt good right away," Federer said. "This is an easier court to play than last week in Stuttgart.
"The ball bounces up higher into my strike zone. I was connecting well on returns and I could read his serve."
Chasing a record-extending 10th title in Halle, Federer will next look to improve his 6-0 head-to-head advantage over Frenchman Benoit Paire, who beat American Steve Johnson 7-5 7-6 (7-5) earlier in the day.
Stefanos Tsitsipas produced a dominant display to dispatch fifth seed Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
The Greek teenager, who had a run of success on the clay in Barcelona and Estoril, remained in full control from the first serve en route to a 6-2 7-6 (7-3) win.
Russia's Karen Khachanov also advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 result over Germany's Mischa Zverev.
Zverev's brother - world No.3 Alexander - began his grass-court campaign with a disappointing 6-1 6-4 defeat to Croatia's Borna Coric.
Share
