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Monfils downs Zverev in Marseille

Marseille - Seventh-seeded Gael Monfils of France saved five set points on the way to a 6-1, 7-6 (12) win against teenager Alexander Zverev in the first round of the Open 13 tournament on Tuesday.

All of the set points saved by Monfils came in a hard-fought tiebreaker, and the 28-year-old Monfils - a former Grand Slam semifinalist - was full of praise for the 17-year-old German.

"Alexander is a very talented player, and I'm not surprised by the way he played in the second set," Monfils said. "I was expecting a tough match."

Monfils next faces Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov, who beat Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

In other first-round matches Monday, Canadian Vasek Pospisil, Austria's Dominic Thiem, Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff and Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Benoit Paire all advanced.

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