Fifth seed Franco Squillari booked the first spot in the third round of the 1-million-dollar Mercedes Cup tennis tournament in Stuttgart Wednesday beating German qualifier Marc Goellner 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The 23-year-old Argentine, who quit his Swiss Open quarterfinal last week with an upset stomach, will play either fourth seed Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco or Slovak Karol Kucera.
Brazil's Fernando Meligeni joined his fellow South American Squillari as a winner, beating Germany's Markus Hantschk comprehensively 6-1, 6-2 to reach the second round.
The tournament experienced a lull in mid-week scheduling, with top seed Magnus Norman of Sweden and number two Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia both idle.
Both players will return to second-round play on Thursday, when the remainder of the second round will be completed at an event which formerly boasted a 48 draw but was reduced to 32 for this edition under ATP Tour scheduling rules.
Kafelnikov began his campaign Monday, winning a tough three-setter in tiebreaks over Frenchman Julien Boutter. Norman defeated German Bjorn Phau Tuesday – (AFP)
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