Gael Monfils edges into Mercedes Open second round

Fifth seed Gael Monfils battled into the second round of the Mercedes Open in Stuttgart.

The Frenchman saved one match point as he saw off American Steve Johnson in three sets, winning 7-5 5-7 7-6 (6).

Number six seed Milos Raonic, last year’s Mercedes Open runner-up, came from behind to beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-7 (6) 6-4 7-6 (4)

Fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime also progressed as the 18-year-old seventh seed beat Latvian Ernests Gulbis 7-5 6-3.

Number eight seed Denis Shapovalov, though, is out after he lost 7-5 6-4 to Jan-Lennard Struff.

The German had also beaten the 20-year-old in the first round of the French Open at Roland Garros.

Dustin Brown delighted the home crowd as he beat John Millman 6-4 7-6 (3), which secured a second-round match against top-seed Alexander Zverev.

Nick Kyrgios, though, failed to make an impact as the Australian was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Italian Matteo Berrettini.

There were also victories for Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, American Denis Kudla, who next plays Monfils, as well as Frenchman Lucas Pouille and Gilles Simon.

At the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, defending champion Richard Gasquet battled back against Aljaz Bedene to book his place in the second round.

Number eight seed Gasquet recovered to progress 6-7 (3) 7-6 (5) 6-4 in just under two-and-a half hours.

Belgian fifth seed David Goffin, though, needed just 48 minutes to coast past Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-0 6-2 in 48 minutes.

Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert recorded a 6-4 7-5 win over Australia’s Matthew Ebden.

Elsewhere, Andreas Seppi won through 7-6 (10) 7-5 against fellow Italian Thomas Fabbiano and will next take on third seeded Australian Alex de Minaur, who was given a bye into round two.

Chile’s Nicolas Jarry booked a showdown with top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas after his 7-6 (4) 6-3 win over Italian qualifier Jannick Sinner.

Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan came from behind to beat Italian Lorenzo Sonego 5-7 6-4 6-4 and will go on to play Gasquet, while France’s Adrian Mannarino defeated Dutch wildcard Thiemo de Bakker 6-2 6-1.