Seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki struggled against Thiemo de Bakker in the first set on Tuesday before overpowering him in the second for a 7-6 (8-6) 6-0 win in the first round of the of the Rotterdam Open tennis tournament.

Troicki, who helped Serbia beat Sweden in the Davis Cup over the weekend, squandered three break points in the first set before edging De Bakker in a close tiebreaker.

De Bakker said “I should have won that tiebreak” and “I blew my chances in the first set”.

“We both got here late and I barely had a chance to train,” said Troicki.

“But I think I handled it pretty well. I made the adjustment and was able to take advantage of the situation. He had some set points in the first that he didn’t convert and that made the difference.”

Nikolay Davydenko advanced by beating Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-5 6-2, and Mikhail Youzhny defeated Igor Kunitsyn 6-0 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 in an all-Russian match.

In other first-round matches, 16th-seeded Jarkko Nieminen beat Dutchman Igor Sijsling 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 7-5, Andreas Seppi overcame Rik De Voest 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 and Phillip Kohlschreiber beat Marcel Granollers 6-1 1-6 6-4.

Seppi, who is playing the indoor event for the sixth time but has never been past the quarter-finals, welcomed his morale-boosting victory.

“It was tough after the Davis Cup. I was a little bit down after that. He played well in the first set but I had a good second set,” said the Italian.

“I had to get used to the court after clay at the weekend and he had two qualifying matches here already. I fought to the end and I’m happy to get through.”

Top-seeded Roger Federer begins his campaign on Wednesday along with Czech Tomas Berdych seeded second ahead of Juan Martin del Potro.