|
|
|
Paul-Henri Mathieu caused the biggest upset on day one of the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam on Monday when he sent fourth seed Feliciano Lopez packing.
Frenchman Mathieu, who had to come through qualifying to book his place in the main draw, came from a set down to beat the Spaniard 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-4 in two hours and 50 minutes.
Mathieu missed the entire 2011 season with a knee injury, but he is delighted with the start he made to this campaign.
“I worked hard during my injury and I think I am fit,” he said. “This is a good comeback.”
He added on atptour.com: “I almost cannot believe it. I panicked a bit at the beginning of the match, he played very well.
“I’m moving better now and started playing better during the important points. I’m happy to win three matches in a row in three days during my first month back in competition.”
Sixth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov also crashed out after going down 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2 against Poland’s Lukasz Kubot.
World No 58 Kubot broke the Ukrainian’s serve five times to claim his third tour-level win of the year.
There was no slip up from fifth seed Richard Gasquet, but he did have to work hard for his victory over Italy’s Flavio Cipolla.
The 25-year-old Frenchman dropped the second set before winning 6-3 1-6 6-1 against Cipolla, who was battling a thigh injury.
Dutch wild card Jesse Huta Galung made sure the home fans had something to celebrate about as he beat 2005 and 2007 finalist Ivan Ljubicic 7-6(6) 6-3. World No 232 Galung saved five of the six break points he faced.