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Johannesburg - Home favourite Kevin Anderson rallied for a three-set win over Stephane Bohli, before rain ended play on day two of the SA Tennis Open at Montecasino on Tuesday.
Anderson, seeded fourth, dropped the first set to his unseeded Swiss opponent, before fighting back for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win in a two-hour, five-minute match which was interrupted by a lengthy rain break.
The South African saved six of seven break points to avoid the fate of second-seeded Yen-hsun Lu and Florent Serra, seeded fifth, who were both dumped out in the first round earlier in the day.
Anderson recovered from his shaky start to wrap up victory shortly before a second rain shower forced the tournament referee to call off play, delaying top-seeded Feliciano Lopez's first round match until Wednesday.
"I was a little bit nervous as I haven't played for a while," Anderson said, "and I'm really happy to get through. Had to save some break points, but that makes me a bit more match-tough looking to the rest of the tournament."
Taiwan's Lu, at No. 37 the highest-ranked player at the tournament after defending champion Lopez of Spain, lost to up-and-coming 20-year-old qualifier Milos Raonic of Canada 6-3, 6-3.
Raonic, who reached the fourth round on his Australian Open debut last month, hit 14 aces and converted three from three break points for his impressive straight sets win, and said the confidence gained from his run in Melbourne helped him overcome a player ranked 57 places higher than him.
Lu conceded, "I had a tough opponent in the first round today."
Unseeded Dustin Brown of Germany then defeated Serra 6-4, 6-4 in 54 minutes, hitting 15 aces, before eighth-seeded Michal Przysiezny of Poland restored order to drop just three games in his 6-1, 6-2 first-round win over Martin Fischer of Austria.
France's Adrian Mannarino, seeded sixth, needed two tie-breaks to shrug off the challenge of Kazakhstan's Yuri Schukin in a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) victory.
Spaniard Lopez, ranked No. 33 and now the only top-50 player left in the event, will open his title defense against Canada's Frank Dancevic.
Germany's Denis Gremelmayr and South Africa's Izak van der Merwe also reached the second round with straight sets wins on Tuesday.
Gremelmayr beat South African qualifier Nikala Scholtz 6-4, 7-5 and wild card entrant Van der Merwe cruised past Stephane Robert of France 6-3, 6-2.
Anderson, seeded fourth, dropped the first set to his unseeded Swiss opponent, before fighting back for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win in a two-hour, five-minute match which was interrupted by a lengthy rain break.
The South African saved six of seven break points to avoid the fate of second-seeded Yen-hsun Lu and Florent Serra, seeded fifth, who were both dumped out in the first round earlier in the day.
Anderson recovered from his shaky start to wrap up victory shortly before a second rain shower forced the tournament referee to call off play, delaying top-seeded Feliciano Lopez's first round match until Wednesday.
"I was a little bit nervous as I haven't played for a while," Anderson said, "and I'm really happy to get through. Had to save some break points, but that makes me a bit more match-tough looking to the rest of the tournament."
Taiwan's Lu, at No. 37 the highest-ranked player at the tournament after defending champion Lopez of Spain, lost to up-and-coming 20-year-old qualifier Milos Raonic of Canada 6-3, 6-3.
Raonic, who reached the fourth round on his Australian Open debut last month, hit 14 aces and converted three from three break points for his impressive straight sets win, and said the confidence gained from his run in Melbourne helped him overcome a player ranked 57 places higher than him.
Lu conceded, "I had a tough opponent in the first round today."
Unseeded Dustin Brown of Germany then defeated Serra 6-4, 6-4 in 54 minutes, hitting 15 aces, before eighth-seeded Michal Przysiezny of Poland restored order to drop just three games in his 6-1, 6-2 first-round win over Martin Fischer of Austria.
France's Adrian Mannarino, seeded sixth, needed two tie-breaks to shrug off the challenge of Kazakhstan's Yuri Schukin in a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) victory.
Spaniard Lopez, ranked No. 33 and now the only top-50 player left in the event, will open his title defense against Canada's Frank Dancevic.
Germany's Denis Gremelmayr and South Africa's Izak van der Merwe also reached the second round with straight sets wins on Tuesday.
Gremelmayr beat South African qualifier Nikala Scholtz 6-4, 7-5 and wild card entrant Van der Merwe cruised past Stephane Robert of France 6-3, 6-2.
