Bellucci, Rosol Advance In Moscow Openers

Thomaz Bellucci, the 2012 finalist, knocked out wild card Cem Ilkel 7-5, 6-1 in 86 minutes at the VTB Kremlin Cup on Monday and will next face eighth seed Andrey Kuznetsov or Guido Pella in the second round in Moscow.

Czech Lukas Rosol defeated Austrian Gerald Melzer 7-5, 6-2 to move into the second round. Rosol will next face Stephane Robert or Marcel Granollers. The Spaniard started his doubles campaign on the right note. Playing with Pablo Carreno Busta, the top seeds hung on to beat Indians Purav Raja and Divij Sharan 6-4, 4-6, 10-4.

Roberto Bautista Agut, runner-up in Moscow for the past two years, leads the ATP World Tour 250 tournament, having just lost to Andy Murray in the Shanghai Rolex Masters final. Bautista Agut is currently No. 13 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, 865 points behind No. 8-placed Dominic Thiem (3,205) in the battle to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The season-ending tournament will be held 13-20 November at The O2 in London.

Who’s Ahead of Bautista Agut? View The Emirates ATP Race To London Standings