Jiri Vesely beats Gerald Melzer to reach 2nd round in Vienna

VIENNA (AP) Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic defeated Austrian wildcard entry Gerald Melzer of Austria 6-4, 6-3 on the opening day of the Erste Bank Open on

VIENNA (AP) Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic defeated Austrian wildcard entry Gerald Melzer of Austria 6-4, 6-3 on the opening day of the Erste Bank Open on Monday.

The 40th-ranked Vesely dropped serve once in the opening set on the only break point he faced. He will next play second-seeded Kevin Anderson or Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria.

Radek Stepanek won another Czech-Austrian duel, beating Dennis Novak 6-4, 6-3, while Lukas Rosol became the third Czech player to advance after defeating Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Also, Ernests Gulbis of Latvia ended his five-match losing streak by defeating Austrian qualifier Lucas Miedler 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

The 522nd-ranked Miedler appeared in his first main-draw match on ATP level.