After Jule Niemeier, Tatjana Maria, Yannick Hanfmann and Oscar Otte also won their first round games at the tennis tournament in Madrid.
35-year-old Maria defeated Alexandra Eala of the Philippines 6-1, 6-1 in 70 minutes and confirmed her fine form. In the second round at the clay-court event, she meets the number 28 seeded American Bernarda Pera. Two and a half weeks ago, Maria won the tournament in Bogotá.
Zverev with bye
The Karlsruhe Hanfmann prevailed against the Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas with 6:4, 3:6, 6:3. For him it is now in the next round against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti. Otte from Cologne defeated the Russian Pawel Kotow 6:3, 4:6, 6:4, and the Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta is waiting in the next round. Olympic champion Alexander Zverev had a bye in the first round and now faces Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain.
On Tuesday, Niemeier started the tournament 6-4, 6-2 against Wang Xinyu from China. As the third German player in the main draw, Laura Siegemund, who fought through the qualification, meets Nadia Podoroska from Argentina.