Jarkko Nieminen and Andreas Seppi have made fighting recoveries after Davis Cup losses at the weekend with both advancing into the second round of the Rotterdam Open.
Finland’s Nieminen, whose nation lost a European zonal tie against the Netherlands 5-0, battled 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5 past 151st-ranked Dutchman Igor Sijsling on Tuesday.
Seppi played and was beaten in a pair of singles rubbers during Italy’s defeat by the Czech Republic in Ostrava, with the number 45 regaining some pride by putting out South African qualifier Rik De Voest 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
Serb seventh seed Viktor Troicki made a quick turnaround from a successful Davis Cup week, defeating Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 7-6 (8/6), 6-0 as German Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Spanish eighth seed Marcel Granollers 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.
“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.”
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.”
The tournament field is headed by Roger Federer, playing for the first time since his title in 2005. Czech Tomas Berdych is seeded second ahead of Juan Martin del Potro with all of the leading three on court on Wednesday for first-round play.