Troicki Holds Off Hewitt; Baghdatis, Stepanek Advance

© Getty ImagesMarcos Baghdatis advanced to the second round with a straight-sets win over Dmitry Tursunov.

Fifth seed Viktor Troicki edged home favourite Lleyton Hewitt in a three-set tussle to open his campaign at the Apia International Sydney on Tuesday evening. The Serbian rallied from a set down to beat former World No. 1 Hewitt 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and four minutes.

Troicki had led 4-1 in the first set, before four-time Sydney champion Hewitt struck back to lead by a set and a break. World No. 21 Troicki regrouped, though, and after levelling the match, broke Hewitt’s serve twice to claim victory in the decider.

Troicki goes on to face Alex Bogomolov Jr., who reached the second round after defeating Robin Haase 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. The World No. 34 was appearing in the main draw for the first time since 2004.

In a clash between two former champions, Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus fired down 14 aces to progress to round two by defeating Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 33 minutes.  

Saving six of the seven break points he faced, World No. 43 Baghdatis, who won his fourth ATP World Tour title in Sydney in 2010 (d. Gasquet), levelled his FedEx ATP Head2Head record with 2008 tournament winner Tursunov at 1-1. The 26-year-old Baghdatis now faces Australian wild card Matthew Ebden, who upset seventh seed Marcel Granollers in the first round.

Eighth seed Radek Stepanek defeated Xavier Malisse 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 29 minutes. The World No. 31 saved nine of the 10 break points he faced, including five in the final set to improve to a 5-3 record against Malisse. Stepanek is coming off a quarter-final showing at the Brisbane International (l. to Dolgopolov) and will face Jarkko Nieminen in the second round.

Julien Benneteau dismissed Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and six minutes to advance. The 49th-ranked Benneteau was untroubled on serve, winning 77 per cent of his service points, and he broke Seppi once in each set to take the pair’s first meeting.

After dropping the first set, Fabio Fognini cruised past American qualifier Michael Russell to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. The Italian won 80 per cent of his return points in the third set, converting three breaks of serve to seal the victory in one hour and 45 minutes.

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