Berdych Off The Mark In Rotterdam

Former ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament champion Tomas Berdych started his quest for a second Rotterdam title on Monday with a 7-6(3), 6-4 victory over Marius Copil.

Berdych is making his 10^th appearance at the tournament. The No. 4 seed improved to a 17-7 record in Rotterdam, where he won the title in 2014 (d. Cilic) and reached the final in 2015 (l. Wawrinka).

Berdych had won their previous two meetings in straight sets but qualifier Copil provided a stern test. However, the world No. 130 couldn’t find a way to break, with three chances dismissed by the Czech’s heavy serve. Berdych will take on Viktor Troicki or Open Sud de France finalist Richard Gasquet in the second round.

Dutch wildcard Robin Haase beat Florian Mayer 7-5, 7-6(3). He struck 12 aces and won 82 per cent of first-serve points to edge into a match-up with either Garanti Koza Sofia Open finalist David Goffin or Andrey Kuznetsov.

Doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert prevailed over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 7-6(5), 7-6(5). The Frenchman, seeded No. 1 in the doubles, qualified for the singles draw on Sunday by beating Botic Van de Zandschulp.