ROTTERDAM — Second seed Milos Raonic secured a comeback win in a successful debut at the ATP Rotterdam World Tennis event, beating Russian qualifier Alexander Kuznetsov 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 7-5 Tuesday. Raonic hammered 19 aces — the last on match points — to reach the second round against the world No. 88 challenger. The Canadian lost the opening set in a tie-breaker before steadying to earn victory in just under two hours. He next plays Italy's Simone Bolelli. French eighth seed Gilles Simon overcame a slow start to defeat Portugal's Joao Sousa 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. The French number two was joined in the second round by his compatriot Jeremy Chardy, who advanced as another countryman Julien Benneteau retired 3-3 with a leg injury. Simon wore down the resistance of Portugal's Sousa in just under two-and-a-half hours. Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky reached the second round over Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-2, 7-6 (9-7), while Canadian Vasek Pospisil spent just an hour in a winning debut with a defeat of German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2. Pospisil will next face the winner from top seed Andy Murray, who plays Wednesday against France's Nicolas Mahut. On Monday, fifth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria saved two match points against an irate Paul-Henri Mathieu, beating the French qualifier 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 Monday to reach the second round. The 23-year-old Dimitrov next plays Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who beat 20th-ranked David Goffin of Belgium 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 6-3. Earlier, Dominic Thiem advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over sixth-seeded Ernests Gulbis. Peng advances In Thailand, top-seeded Peng Shuai led the Chinese challenge into the second round of the Thailand Open by beating Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-3, 6-2 Tuesday. Peng dominated with her double-fisted groundstrokes to beat Kudryavtseva for the first time in three matchups. Peng, who reached the US Open semifinals last year, was one of five Chinese winners on the day, beside eighth-seeded Zhang Shuai, Zhu Lin, promoted as a late replacement for injured fifth seed Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan and knocked out 2006 champion Shahar Peer of Israel 7-6 (5), 6-1, Duan Ying-ying, and Zheng Saisai. Former two-time champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia overcame third-seeded Zarina Diyas 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, avenging a loss to the Kazakh in Hobart, Australia, last month. Also, Misaki Doi of Japan put out local two-time finalist Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6 (2), 6-0, and fourth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan also advanced. — Agencies
