Tomic and Groth advance in Memphis

Australians Bernard Tomic and Sam Groth have advanced to the second round of the Memphis Open, while young gun Thanasi Kokkinakis fell in round one.

Bernard Tomic has set up a second-round showdown with Ukrainian fourth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, after a hard-fought win at the Memphis Open.

The 22-year-old Australian rallied after a sloppy first set on Tuesday to oust Dutchman Igor Sijsling 4-6 6-3 6-2.

The world No.49 surrendered two service breaks in the opening set but saved 5-of-6 break points over the final two sets while breaking four times, three in the final set.

Sam Groth also advanced, the big-serving Aussie took just over an hour to defeat Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu in straight sets.

Groth dropped just three points on his booming first serve to win 6-4 6-3.

Groth will take on South African second seed Kevin Anderson, who like Tomic's opponent Dolgopolov received a first-round bye.

While it was a good day for those two it was less so for 18-year-old whiz-kid Thanasi Kokkinakis, who fell 6-3 6-4 to fellow qualifier Denis Kudla from the United States.

Also booking a spot in the round of 16 was Croatian fifth seed Ivo Karlovic who blasted 23 aces in his defeat of Slovakian Lukas Lacko 7-6 (9-7) 6-3.

Karlovic, ranked 25th, had won their only prior meeting in the first round at Wimbledon in 2009.

The big-serving 35-year-old will next face US qualifier Austin Krajicek.


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Source: AAP


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