Auckland, New Zealand – Australian qualifier Greg Jones upended sixth-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 in first-round action Tuesday at the Heineken Open, a final Australian Open tune-up.
Meanwhile, oft-injured French star Gael Monfils overcame German qualifier Benjamin Becker 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4 and American qualifier Jesse Levine leveled wild card Daniel King-Turner of New Zealand 6-2, 6-2 on the hardcourts at ASB Tennis Centre. The wild card Monfils fired 19 aces while improving to 4-0 lifetime against Becker.
Also advancing to the second round were Colombians Santiago Giraldo and Alejandro Falla, Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu, Slovak Lukas Lacko, and Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling.
In some second-round play on Wednesday, top-seeded and two-time defending champion David Ferrer will face Lu and fourth-seeded American Sam Querrey will encounter Belgian wild card Olivier Rochus. The three-time Auckland titlist Ferrer topped the two-time runner-up Rochus in last year's Auckland finale. Querrey was a finalist here in 2009.
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