STOCKHOLM (AP) Finland's Jarkko Nieminen and Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia both advanced to the second round of the Stockholm Open with straight-set wins on Monday.
In his 15th appearance at the tournament, Nieminen beat Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-4 while Gabashvili defeated Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-2, 6-4.
Nieminen put constant pressure on his opponent's serve but only converted three of the 11 break points he created. Gabashvili broke Falla six times - three in each set - but lost his serve three times as well.
Australia's Bernard Tomic also made it through by defeating Patrik Rosenholm of Sweden 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-4, in a match that lasted nearly two hours.
Top-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, making his fifth appearance at the tournament, has a bye into the second round. So does defending champion and second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who is competing at Stockholm for the fourth time.
