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Acapulco - No 5 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov kicked off his Acapulco campaign on Monday with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 win over Australian Sam Groth on the hard courts of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
The 26-year-old Ukrainian, a semifinalist last year when the event was played on clay, managed to break the big-serving Groth five times in the match, closing out the final set in just 21 minutes for his fourth victory of 2015.
The World No 33 will face the winner of Robin Haase and Andreas Haider-Maurer, who reached the semifinals in Rio last week.
In the bottom half of the draw, Marinko Matosevic defeated Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-2 in their first ATP World Tour meeting. The Australian awaits the winner of Igor Sijsling and No 2 seed David Ferrer.
World No 15 Kevin Anderson rebounded from a second-round exit in Delray Beach to secure a straightforward 6-1, 6-2 win over Germany'sDustin Brown. Anderson, a 2014 Acapulco finalist (l. to Dimitrov), did not face a single break point in the 52-minute match. The fourth seed will meet Ivan Dodig or Steve Johnson in the second round.
"It was a very good match for me today, and I felt I played very well," said Anderson.
"It was very close last year losing in the finals, and I hope to go one step further this year. I think it’s too tough to look at it as just here to win the tournament. In the back of my mind, that’s my goal and my belief, but it’s really about taking one match at a time."
Eighth seed Benjamin Becker evened his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against fellow German Tobias Kamke at 1-1 with his 7-6(4), 6-2 win on Monday evening. The World No 41 converted on three of four break point opportunities to close out Kamke in one hour and 36 minutes.
Dusan Lajovic is also moving on after ousting 18-year-old qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4, 7-6(4).
No 7 seed Santiago Giraldo capped off day one in Acapulco with a 7-6(8), 6-1 win over American Austin Krajicek. After a lengthy first set, the 27-year-old Colombian found his rhythm to clinch the match in just under two hours. Giraldo is making his fourth appearance at the event, with his best result coming in 2012 when he reached the semifinals.
