6th-seeded Haider-Maurer and qualifier De Greef reach 2nd rd
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) Sixth-seeded Andreas Haider-Maurer advanced to the second round of the Grand Prix Hassan II tournament Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-7 (0), 7-6 (5) win against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, while Belgian qualifier Arthur De Greef also progressed after beating eighth-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Although Struff had 15 aces compared to five for Haider-Maurer, he struggled on his second serve and dropped serve three times. In an error-strewn match, De Greef lost his serve four times but broke his opponent five times.
Also, Moroccan wildcard Lamine Ouahab beat Dutchman Robin Haase 6-2, 6-4 to set up a second-round match against top-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
Haider-Maurer next plays Spaniard Pablo Andujar, while De Greef faces British qualifier Aljaz Bedene. They both won their first-round matches on Tuesday.
Bedene beat Argentine Maxime Gonzalez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, while Andujar broke German Tobias Kamke's serve five times in a 6-3, 6-4 win.
In other first-round matches: Russian Mikhail Youzhny beat Moroccan wild card Yassine Idmbarek 6-3, 6-1; Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur won 6-2, 7-6 (2) against French veteran Paul-Henri Mathieu; Spaniard Nicolas Almagro thrashed qualifier Taro Daniel of Japan 6-4, 6-1, and countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver also advanced comfortably with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Tunisian Malek Jaziri.
In second-round play Wednesday, second-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia faces Dustin Brown of Germany.
