Matosevic hammers Wishaya
Tomic and Rosol also advance to next round
Australian Marinko Matosevic gave Thai teenager Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul several lessons in his comfortable 6-1, 6-1 first-round win at the Thailand Open last night.
The 18-year-old Thai looked nervous throughout his first Thailand Open match, making numerous unforced errors and double-faults at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani.
‘‘This was my first match in an ATP tournament and I was too nervous,’’ wildcard Wishaya said.
‘‘I need to play more on the professional circuit to gain experience.’’
World No.56 Matosevic will meet No.11 Milos Raonic of Canada in the second round, while Wishaya will play doubles alongside Serbia’s Laslo Djere.
Eighth-seeded Lukas Rosol and Australian Bernard Tomic also advanced to the second round.
Czech Rosol smashed 16 aces as he continued an upturn in form with a three-set win over Poland’s Lukasz Kubot.
Conqueror of Rafael Nadal at last year’s Wimbledon, the giant Czech, who has endured a dismal run since claiming his breakthrough ATP title in April, beat Kubot 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.
In his first Bangkok match, Rosol, who stands 1.96m tall, relied on his booming serve on the hardcourt to secure passage into the second round.
The world No.46 said he was coming back to form after a dreadful few months following his win in Bucharest.
‘‘I had so many bad matches and zero confidence. But I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work and maybe things are starting to change. I feel like I’m coming back,’’ said the 31-year-old, who was a key member of the Czech team that swatted away Argentina in the semifinals of the Davis Cup earlier this month.
His summer had been one to forget with eight consecutive opening round losses, starting at Wimbledon where he failed to emulate his heroics of 2012 when he knocked out Nadal in an epic five-setter. But Rosol said his hard work on the training courts was paying off.
Tomic progressed to the second round after Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic retired in the third set due to injury.
Tomic, who was leading 6-7, 6-4, 4-2 when Karlovic retired, will next meet fourth seeded Gilles Simon of France.
Two Colombians were defeated in the first round with Alejandro Falla losing to Slovak Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-2 and Satiago Giraldo eliminated by Japan’s Go Soeda 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
In the doubles first round, top seeds Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt lost 6-2, 3-6, 8-10 to unseeded Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain and Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi.
Thai twins Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana defeated Mateusz Kowalczyk of Poland and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia 6-2, 4-6, 10-8.