Left-handed Gilles Muller from Luxemburg cruised past Croatian rising star Borna Coric 6-1 6-4 in just 57 minutes to advance to the second round of the Apia International in Sydney where he will take on Dominic Thiem from Austria.
Muller eased past Coric in just 19 minutes in the opening set. Coric, who finished runner-up to Stan Wawrinka last week in Chennai, went down a break early in the second set but he found a better rhythm on his serve. He could not break Muller’s serve.
Muller brought up a match point with a half-volley drop-shot winner before closing out with a powerful first set.
“I tried to be aggressive and not give him a chance. I knew he was coming in late from Chennai, so I knew that he was maybe not used to the courts here. They are much faster here than over there. I am pretty confident on good days, when I am playing well, when I am serving well. I gave him a lot of trouble. I think I handled the wind quite well. The conditions with the wind were very tough”, said Muller.
Elsewhere, Teymuraz Gabashvili from Russia beat Leonardo Mayer from Argentina 6-4 6-3. Alexander Dolgopolov defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-1 6-4. Nicolas Mahut edged Adrian Mannarino 6-4 7-5 in an all-French match.
