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Halle - Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu booked his place in the second round of Halle's ATP tournament with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 win over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen on Monday.
Lu, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year, finally got into his stride in the second set but admitted the transition from clay to grass is no easy task.
"It was a tough match to start the grass-court season, I know Jarkko is very good on grass," said Lu, who upset Andy Roddick to reach the last eight at Wimbledon last year.
"We were both trying to find a rhythm and get a feel for the grass.
"It was a high quality match and I am glad I won, there are lots of positives to take.
"It's not easy to switch from clay to grass, there is a lot of difference.
"You are using different muscles, the ball is a lot lower.
"I have had two days practice, I still have two more weeks (until Wimbledon), so there is plenty of time to get ready."
Lu will play a German in the second round and faces either wild-card Dustin Brown or sixth-seed Florian Mayer.
"For sure, they will want to do well at home and they will have the crowd behind them," said Lu.
"It will help them, but I can't care about that, I have to focus on my game and not lose my concentration."
Results on Monday from the Gerry Weber Open (seedings in parentheses):Singles
First round
Alexandr Dolgopolov (7), Ukraine, def. Robin Haase, Netherlands, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4.
Yen-hsun Lu, Taiwan, def. Jarkko Nieminen, Finland, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Igor Andreev, Russia, def. Potito Starace, Italy, 6-4, 6-4.
Tobias Kamke, Germany, def. Julian Reister, Germany, 4-3, retired.
Jan Hernych, Czech Republic, def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8).
Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, def. Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Germany, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
Ivan Dodig, Croatia, def. Pere Riba, Spain, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6).
