Rotterdam,
Netherlands - Florian Meyer completed a one-two German punch against Janko Tipsarevic as he knocked the Serb out 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (8-6) in Monday's opening round of the ABN-AMRO World Tennis. The win in two hours, 57 minutes followed by six days a victory for German Michael Berrer over Tipsarevic in the first round in Zagreb.
The 63rd-ranked Mayer admitted that he made hard work out of his victory after failing to serve it out in the second-set tiebreaker.
"In the end I was just lucky to win. I had a match point and then led 3-0 in the second set."
The winner fired 12 aces and six double-faults. He saved nine of ten break points and fought off a Tipsarevic match point in the final set.
Mayer now stands 3-2 this season after losing in the Australian Open third round to Argentine Juan Del Potro. Tipsarevic has claimed one win from four matches in the Dutch port city.
By contrast, the day's opening match went quickly for Italian Andreas Seppi, who efficiently put out Swiss qualifier Stephane Bohli 6-1, 7-5 in just under 90 minutes.
The tournament is missing both major protagonists from 2009, with Australian Open finalist and holder
Andy Murray waiting until next week to resume on the ATP and finalist
Rafael Nadal out for another few weeks as he heals a problem knee.
Serb Novak Djokivic heads the field as opens against Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky, while Russian Nikolay Davydenko takes the second seeding.
