Kyrgios begins title defense at Open 13 in Marsielle

[February 23, 2017]  The Sports Xchange

Nick Kyrgios of Australia got off to a good start in defense of his title at the Open 13 in Marseille, France

Seeded third in the tournament, Kyrgios needed 59 minutes to win his second-round match with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Malek Jaziri of Tunisia on Wednesday at Marseille, France.

Kyrgios had 12 aces and won 94 percent of his first-serve points against Jaziri, who struggled with his serve, double-faulting four times.

Sixth- seeded Richard Gasquet also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Mikhail Youzhny. A finalist at Open Sud de France two weeks ago, Gasquet saved all five break points he faced.

Seventh-seeded Gilles Simon of France, a two-time winner of this event, had a tougher path to securing his spot in the quarterfinals, dispatching countryman Julien Benneteau in three sets 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

No. 4 seed Lucas Pouille made it three Frenchmen in the quarters by grinding out a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Great Britain's Aljaz Bedene.

Daniil Medvedev of Russia won a marathon three-setter in ousting eighth-seeded Benoit Paire 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (4) in his first-round match.

The 21-year-old came back from early deficits of 3-1 in the second set and 3-1 in the decisive set to move into the second round.

"It was a really tough match," said Medvedev. "I'm really happy to win, because not everything was going good for me. I wasn't playing my best tennis in the first two sets. I was making a lot of unforced errors."

Fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany lost his first-round match, falling in straight sets to France's Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).

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