AP – Bernard Tomic will start his grasscourt campaign with Tuesday’s match against German veteran Tommy Haas at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.
Local hero Haas, who won the event in 2009, was given a wildcard while Tomic is unseeded despite his career-high ranking of No.27.
The 19-year-old Australian, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year, is itching to return to the next grand slam’s surface.
“I can’t wait to get on the grass,” Tomic said after his second-round French Open loss to Santiago Giraldo.
“It’s now time for me to play well. I’m very confident on grass.”
Philipp Kohlschreiber began his Halle defence on Monday with a 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) win over wildcard Dustin Brown in an all-German match.
The 163rd-ranked Brown twice pushed Kohlschreiber to a tiebreaker in a clash that lasted one hour, 23 minutes.
Canada’s Milos Raonic, the other seeded player playing on the opening day of the grasscourt tournament, defeated last year’s beaten finalist Philipp Petzschner 7-5 7-6 (7-1).
Fifth-seeded Raonic served 19 aces to beat the German, setting up a second-round clash with Ze Zhang of China.
The 28-year-old Kohlschreiber will face Lukas Kubot after the Pole beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4 6-4.
“I struck the ball very well and I can also be happy with my return,” Kohlschreiber said.
Rafael Nadal, who won his record seventh French Open title on Monday, and five-time winner Roger Federer both have byes to the second round.