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Bernard Tomic has booked a spot in the second round of the clay-court ATP event in Houston with a straight-sets win over Denis Kudla.
Bernard Tomic has progressed to the second round of the US Men's Clay Court championship in Texas with a tight straight-sets win over Denis Kudla.
Australian Tomic fired 11 aces to overcome American Kudla 7-6 (10-8) 7-5 in one hour and 45 minutes.
The next opponent for the world No.79 Tomic will be Spaniard Marcel Granollers, who accounted for fifth-seeded Taylor Fritz 6-2 4-6 6-2.
"Taylor is a player who can hit very hard. He hits very hard from the baseline and I needed to change rhythm," said Granollers, who won the tournament in 2008.
Other first-round winners were Ryan Harrison who overcame Croatian veteran and 2007 champion Ivo Karlovic 6-3 6-4, Norway's Casper Ruud who defeated Hugo Dellien 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 and Chile's Christian Garin who beat Pablo Cuevas 4-6 6-4 6-2.
Seventh-seeded Aussie Jordan Thompson will commence his campaign on Tuesday with a first-round match against Serbian qualifier Peda Krstin.