Mathieu upsets Lopez Rotterdam

Paul-Henri Mathieu fought back from a set down Monday to upset fourth-seeded Feliciano Lopez 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in the opening round of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament.

Sixth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine also went out in the first round, losing 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 6-2 to Lukasz Kubot of Poland.

Mathieu, ranked 733 in the world after missing the entire 2011 season with a knee injury, looked sharp in beating Lopez in a match that lasted nearly three hours.

“I worked hard during my injury and I think I am fit,” he said. “This is a good comeback.”

Another Frenchman, fifth-seeded Richard Gasquet, overcame an injured Flavio Cipolla to win his first-round match 6-3 1-6 6-1.

After losing the first set, Cipolla easily took the second, but struggled in the decider with a left thigh injury.

Jesse Huta Halung advanced to the second round at the expense of two-time Rotterdam finalist Ivan Ljubicic. The Dutchman won 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 against the 2005 and 2007 runner-up to secure his first ever win at the tournament.

He next meets the winner of Thiemo de Bakker’s match against seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki.

Another Dutchman, Robin Haase, faces Nikolay Davydenko Tuesday with fellow Russians Mikhail Youzhny and Igor Kunitsyn also meeting later in the day.

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!