Rising star of Australian tennis Thanasi Kokkinakis has blasted his way into the second round of the Shenzhen Open, where he will be joined by compatriot Sam Groth.

Kokkinakis easily dispatched with Belarusian wild card Egor Germasimov 7-6 (7-3) 6-1.

The 18-year-old overcame a challenging first set, in which he was twice denied break points by the world No.237, to triumph in a tie-breaker before running away with the second to complete the match in 73 minutes.

Groth, meanwhile, overcame fellow Australian James Duckworth in a three-set clash which lasted just under two hours.

The 26-year-old fired 16 aces in the 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 victory.

In other matches, fifth-seeded Gilles Simon of France lost fell to Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-4 6-2 in his opening match while sixth-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia managed to advance, beating Chinese qualifier Bowen Ouyang 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Two-time major winner Andy Murray is seeded No.2 and will open against Somdev Devvarman of India in the second round.