By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Alexander Zverev and Marcos Baghdatis each moved through to the second round on Tuesday in Halle.
Photo Source: Gerry Weber Open.
Photo credit: Gerry Weber Open
A pair of seeds failed to survive the first cut in Halle.
In a rematch of the 2007 Halle final, Marcos Baghdatis edged an erratic Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4).
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The 42nd-ranked Baghdatis blasted 10 aces with no double faults in dispatching the fourth-seeded Czech.
Baghdatis' victory followed Alexander Zverev's 6-4, 6-4 conquest of seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki.
The 19-year-old German avenged a three-set loss to Troicki on the grass of Stuttgart last June. Zverev played with more ambition on big points: He saved five of six break points and converted all three of his break-point chances.
"I feel good and I played well," said Zverev, who will face 34-year-old qualifier Benjamin Becker in an all-German second-round clash.
Berdych beat Baghdatis in the 2007 Halle final, but couldn't cope with the Cypriot's lawn-hugging drives and the slice backhand, which sometimes coaxed errors from the 6'5" Czech.
A pair of Baghdatis aces wrapped around a couple of Berdych backhands into the net helped the bearded Cypriot build a 5-1 lead in the first-set tie break. Successive Berdych errors helped Baghdatis wrap up the opening set in 53 minutes.
Sliding behind the baseline, Baghdatis used the dipping slice to coax a netted forehand from his flat-hitting opponent in the second-set tie break.
Knocking another backhand into net Berdych wailed in frustration falling behind 1-5. Baghdatis banged his 10th ace down the T for four match points.
When Berdych knocked a routine backhand volley into net, Baghdatis was through to round two.
Baghdatis, who was runner-up to Stan Wawrinka in Dubai earlier this season, faces German wild card Dustin Brown in the second round. Brown overcame 10 double faults beating Spanish left-hander Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-3, 7-5.
Ivo Karlovic slashed 26 aces in a 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory over Andrey Kuznetsov.
On Monday, Dominic Thiem and Philipp Kohlschreiber squared off in the Stuttgart singles final. Today, the pair joined forces in doubles, bowing to seond seeds Lukasz Kubot and Alexander Peya.