Simon battles through

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:53

Home favourite Simon needed more than two hours to see off the Italian 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/5).

The Frenchman fired 14 aces but Bolelli hung tough to drag the game out.

Another Frenchman through to the second round is Paul-Henri Mathieu, with the sixth-seed beating Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 7-6 (7/5) 6-2.

Nicolas Kiefer came from behind to beat wildcard Sebastian Grosjean 4-6 7-6 (9/7) 7-6 (6/2) in a two-and-a-half hour epic, while Olivier Rochus made much lighter work of beating Frenchman Vincent Millot 6-3 6-2.

The second round is already under way, with fifth seed Julien Benneteau beating qualifier Kelvin Anderson 7-5 6-2, and Florent Serra topped Albert Montanes 7-5 6-3.

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here

By Tim Farthing

About the Author / Tim Farthing

Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.