Alexander Zverev makes winning start to his campaign at Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco
Belinda Bencic knocked out in Switzerland
Tuesday 9 April 2019 21:15, UK
World No 3 Alexander Zverev beat Denis Istomin in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco.
The former French Open quarter-finalist won 6-4 6-4 in Marrakesh.
But former world No 7 Fernando Verdasco was an early casualty after losing to qualifier Adrian Menendez-Maceiras. The Spaniard recorded his first tour-level match win for 14 months by beating sixth seed Verdasco 5-7 6-2 6-2.
World No 103 Lorenzo Sonego lost five of his first service points but recovered in a 6-3 6-3 win over fifth seed Laslo Djere.
Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber recovered from 3-0 down in the first set and 4-1 in the second set to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.
Eighth seed Pierre-Hugues Herbert and fellow Frenchman Benoit Paire also opened their campaigns with victories.
Herbert struck 13 aces in a 6-7 (3) 6-4, 6-1 win over Italy's Thomas Fabbiano, while Paire won the final three games of his 3-6 6-4 7-5 victory over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia.
The Czech Republic's Jiri Vesely secured an impressive 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 victory over second seed Fabio Fognini. It was his second straight win over the world No 18, nine months after beating Fognini at Wimbledon.
Robin Haas beat Malek Jaziri 6-3 6-4 and Pablo Andujar-Alba overcame Federico Delbonis in straight sets.
Antonia Lottner stunned top seed Belinda Bencic to win her first WTA match for 10 months in Switzerland.
The 22-year-old German qualifier, ranked 182 in the world - 160 places below Bencic - triumphed 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the Ladies Open in Lugano.
Lottner will play the Czech Republic's world 101 Kristyna Pliskova after she overcame Ylena In-Albon.
Magdalena Frech lost to Rebecca Peterson 6-3 7-6 (7-2), while Stefanie Voegele beat Pauline Parmentier in straight sets.
Tamara Korpatsch was beaten by Timea Bacsinszky 6-0 6-2 and Evgeniya Rodina beat 16-year-old Clara Tauson 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 7-5. Vera Lapko beat Reka-Luca Jani 6-2 2-6 6-2 and world No 27 Carla Suarez-Navarro lost 3-6 6-3 6-4 to Polona Hercog.
Fiona Ferro beat Mandy Minella while Slovakia's Viktoria Kuzmova triumphed over Giulia Gatto-Monticone. Iga Swiatek also progressed in straight sets over Katarina Zavatska.
We have the tennis season covered from all angles via our website skysports.com/tennis. On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation.
