UPDATE 6.50pm: Men’s fifth seed Kei Nishikori has made an impressive start to his Brisbane International campaign, ending the hopes of newly crownd Australian No.1 Marinko Matosevic 7-5, 6-2 on Pat Rafter Arena late Monday.
Matosevic, the 2012 ATP Newcomer of the Year, looked promising after going up an early break in the first set, but the world No.19 managed to capitalise on the Australian’s errors to claw back the set 7-5.
Nishikori’s well-drilled play and speed on court proved too much for Matosevic in the second set, closing out the match 6-2 and setting up a second-round encounter with either Spain’s Tommy Robredo or qualifier Ryan Harrison, who play on Pat Rafter Arena on Tuesday.
Meanwhile in the men’s draw, sixth seed Florian Mayer went through with a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 win against Colombian Santiago Giraldo in his first round, while Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen overcame French workhorse Julien Benneteau in a rematch of the 2012 Apia Sydney International men’s final.
Nieminen, who earned a fluctuating 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Benneteau, will face fourth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round, after the Ukrainian received a first-round bye.
In the doubles draw, Milos Raonic opened his season with a 227km ace in his first round match with teammate Jurgen Melzer, the pair proving too good with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Martin Klizan and Scott Lipsky.
The women’s team of Daniela Hantuchova and Katarina Srebotnik were also 6-4, 6-4 winners over Mervana Jugic-Salkic and Alexandra Panova, and will face the pairing of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova in the second round, after they upset Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in a match tie-break on Monday.
In more women’s doubles results, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza claimed a 6-4 6-2 victory over Vera Dushevina and Olga Govortsova, while Vania King and Akgul Amanmmuradova went through comfortably against Arantxa Parra Santonja and Alicja Rosolska, 6-3 6-0.