Sijsling Ousts Fellow Dutchman de Bakker; Malisse Advances

© Getty ImagesBelgian Xavier Malisse is looking to reach his second straight grass quarter-final.

Dutch wild card Igor Sijsling recorded his first ATP World Tour match win since February as he battled past countryman and No. 6 seed Thiemo de Bakker 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) Monday in the first round of the UNICEF Open, an ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tennis tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

World No. 159 Sijsling, who is playing in the main draw in ‘s-Hertogenbosch for the first time, rallied from the loss of the first set to win four straight games from 2-2 in the second set to level the match. Neither player was able to break serve in the third set before Sijsling prevailed in the decisive tie-break, recovering from 1-4 down to win six points in a row and secure victory in one hour and 44 minutes.

The No. 43-ranked de Bakker is at a career-high position in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings after compiling a 14-12 match record in the first six months of the season. The 21 year old defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the Barcelona semi-finals and advanced to the third round at Roland Garros.

Buy Tickets | TV Schedule

Last week’s AEGON Championships quarter-finalist, Xavier Malisse, earned his place in the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over American lucky loser Rajeev Ram. Ram replaced fifth-seeded German Philipp Petzschner, who withdrew due to a left hip injury.

Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Malisse, who defeated Novak Djokovic on his run at The Queen’s Club, next will face German Daniel Brands, who crushed Australian qualifier Rameez Junaid 6-1, 6-3 in 56 minutes.

Elsewhere, 2002-2003 runner-up Arnaud Clement, the oldest player in the singles draw at 32, recovered from the loss of the second set to defeat German qualifier Simon Stadler 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. Meanwhile, Finnish wild card Henri Kontinen battled past Jamaican qualifier Dustin Brown 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(5) to win his first ATP World Tour main draw match of the season.