Marcos Baghdatis beats Tomas Berdych in Germany
Tuesday 14 June 2016 18:57, UK
Tomas Berdych crashed out of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle after a surprise 7-6 7-6 first round defeat to Marcos Baghdatis.
The Czech world number eight has yet to reach a final this year and has suffered quarter-final exits at both the Australian and French Open so far this season.
And his grass court preparations suffered a blow as he was unable to get the better of Baghdatis who having taken the first set, fought back from a break down to take the second set on another tie-break.
Elsewhere there was another impressive victory for talented teenager Alexander Zverev, the 19-year-old German thrilling the home crowd with a 6-4 6-4 win over seventh seed Viktor Troicki.
Zverev's game looks ideally suited to grass and has has already caused a stir this year having come so close to beating Rafa Nadal at Indian Wells as well as running Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem close in recent events.
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Another rising star of the tour did not fare as well, 18-year-old American Taylor Fritz beaten in three sets by Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita.
German wild card Dustin Brown saw off French Open quarter-finalist Albert Ramos Vinolas and he will face Baghdatis in the next round while another home favourite Florian Mayer and the unseeded pair of Malek Jaziri and Ivo Karlovic also booked their place in the second round.
