The top seeds in Sofia, Bulgaria have advanced to round two. Alexander Peya and Philipp Petzschner edged Gilles Muller and Frederik Nielsen in straight sets to highlight a full day of doubles on the ATP World Tour.
Garanti Koza Sofia Open Round-up
Alexander Peya and Philipp Petzschner got away to a winning start in Sofia on Tuesday. The top seeds edged Gilles Muller and Frederik Nielsen 7-5, 6-3. The duo fought off three break points late in the opening set to keep themselves in it. It would allow Peya-Petzschner to pounce in the 12th game on just the second break chance of the set against Muller-Nielsen. The top seeds would squeak out the opening set 7-5. After saving two early break chances in the second, the Peya-Petzschner would break Muller-Nielsen at-love in game eight to secure the decisive break. Peya-Petzschner were perfect in saving four break points as they won 69 percent of their service points.
In other first round action, Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Lukas Rosol teamed up to take down Martin Klizan and Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4. Fyrstenberg-Rosol will play the top seeds in the quarterfinals. Dutch partners Robin Haase and Thiemo de Bakker whipped Frantisek Cermak and Michael Mertinak 6-3, 6-2. The final match of the day saw third seeds Matwe Middlekoop and Wesley Koolhof inch past Bulgarian crowd favorites Dimitar Kuzmanov and Alexandar Lazov 6-7 (5), 6-3, 12-10.
Erlich-Fleming Lead Light Day in Montpellier
Fourth seeds Jonathan Erlich and Colin Fleming crushed Marin Cilic and Nikola Mectic in straight sets to open their campaign at the Open Sud de France. Cilic and Mektic won just half of their service points in the opening set as the fourth seeds broke the Croatian pair twice in a 6-1 rout. The second set saw Erlich-Fleming take control with an early break and they would take on two more to clinch a 6-1, 6-3 victory. The fourth seeds were hot on return, winning 51 percent of the points from the Croatians. The other doubles match of the day saw brothers Mischa and Alexander Zverev outlast Ken and Neal Skupski 6-4, 7-6 (6). The Zverevs will take on Borna Coric and Antonio Sancic who sprang a first round surprise against third seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin on Monday.
Top Seeds Bounced in Quito
At the Ecuador Open Quito, the top two seeds are done in the first round. Top seeds Andre Sa and Santiago Gonzalez were crushed by Horacio Zeballos and Julio Peralta 6-1, 6-3. Sa-Gonzalez had their serves broken four times and Zeballos-Peralta were masterful in saving seven break points to secure the win. Second seeds Purav Raja and Rajeev Ram were also upset victims on Tuesday. They were defeated by Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Duran 7-6 (6), 6-2.
Fourth seeds Gero Kretschner and Alexander Satschko avoided the upset bug as they eased past Franko Skugor and Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-2. The final doubles match of Tuesday saw Roberto Maytin and
Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela score the slight upset over Marcel Granollers and Pere Riba 7-5, 6-3.