HAMBURG, Germany (AP)—Three German players defeated higher-ranked opponents Monday to advance to the second round of the German Open.
Qualifier Bastian Knittel beat Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-4, 6-3 for his first tour-level victory of the year.
Wild card Tobias Kamke, the 2010 ATP Newcomer of the Year, routed Pere Riba 6-1, 6-1 and is now 2-0 against the Spaniard.
Julian Riester beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-3, 6-4 to avenge last year’s defeat in the third round in Hamburg.
Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic beat Potito Starace of Italy 7-6 (5), 6-1 and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland defeated Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-4, 6-3.
Also advancing to the second round were Albert Ramos of Spain, Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, Carlos Berlocq of Argentina and Victor Crivoi of Romania.
The 16 seeded players, led by No. 1 Gael Monfils, all had byes into the second round.