Bernard Tomic has opened his grass court season with a win, downing German Jan-Lennard Struff at the Mercedes Open in straight sets.
Tomic enjoyed a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory over the local hope and will take on the winner of the Mikhail Kukushkin-Tommy Haas match.
The victor of that second round clash looks likely to draw a quarter-final match-up with Rafael Nadal.
"It's very exciting for me to be back here," said Tomic, who was born in Stuttgart.
"My first match on grass was pretty good. I served and returned well in the first set. I think I lost a little bit of concentration in the second. It's all about finding your movement on the grass in the first match and I felt like it was pretty solid."
Tomic, ranked a career high No.24 in the world and seeded fifth in Stuttgart, has another chance to push up the rankings over the coming months with only three second round appearances at grass court events to defend points from.
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