Former finalists off to winning starts
Former finalists Viktor Troicki of Serbia and Finn Jarkko Nieminen made winning starts at the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Tuesday, progressing to the second round.
Sixth seed Troicki had the tougher first round match, coming back from a set down to defeat Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-3.
The win broke a losing streak for world number 31 Troicki who was knocked out in the first rounds of his previous two tournaments.
"I'm happy with this first-round performance," said the Serb who will play either Frenchman Gael Monfils or South African qualifier Kevin Anderson in the next round.
"No matter whom I play in the next round, it will be a tough match again for sure. I hope I can keep playing as well as I did today," he added.
Nieminen, defeated finalist in 2010 to Guillermo Garcia Lopez, progressed after just 35 minutes when Japan's Yuichi Sugita retired following a 6-1 loss in the first set.
Troicki and Nieminen were joined in the second round by Israeli Dudi Sela, who defeated Roger Federer's childhood friend Marco Chiudinelli 6-4, 6-4.
