Kohlschreiber downs Rochus

Montpellier - Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday to reach the second round of the Open Sud de France.

The seventh-seeded Kohlschreiber hit 11 aces and broke Rochus twice in each set.

Jarkko Nieminen of Finland also advanced to the second round. Maxime Teixeira of France saved 11 break points before losing to the eighth-seeded Nieminen 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Paul-Henri Mathieu, Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Nicolas Mahut also won.

Mathieu beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany 6-4, 6-4; Roger-Vasselin downed Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain 7-5, 6-2, and Mahut was hardly troubled in his 6-3, 6-2 win against Albert Ramos of Spain.

Later on Tuesday, fifth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain will play Igor Kunitsyn of Russia.

Results in the ATP tournament on Tuesday (x denotes seeding):

First round

Nicolas Mahut (FRA) bt Albert Ramos (ESP) 6-3, 6-2
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Roberto Bautista (ESP) 7-5, 6-2
Michael Russell (USA) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-3, 7-5
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x7) bt Olivier Rochus (BEL) 6-1, 6-4
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN x8) bt Maxime Teixeira (FRA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) bt Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) 6-4, 6-4