By Niall Clarke
- Aljaz Bedene defeats Vasek Pospisil
- The British number two won 7-5, 7-6(6)
- He will face Luca Vanni in the next round
Chennai, India- Aljaz Bedene got his 2016 season off to the perfect start with a straight sets victory over Vasek Pospisil in the first round of the Chennai open.
The British number two edged the fifth 7-5, 7-6(6) in an hour and 48 minutes in the season opener in India.
It was a tight affair in the opening exchanges with no break points being offered up until the 11th game of the match on Pospisil’s serve. Bedene failed on the first attempt to convert, but on the second time of asking he was not to be denied.
After sealing the break of serve for 6-5, Bedene closed out the set on the first attempt to give himself the advantage
The Canadian responded with an early break of serving in the second set but the Brit broke straight back to bring them back on serve. After the back to back breaks the set began to look like the first with neither player able to muster up any break point opportunities.
It meant that a tiebreak was needed to separate the two players and there were plenty of points against serve- much against the pattern of the match.
Pospisil had set points at 6-3 to level the match but lost five straight points as the British number two closed out a straight sets victory.
Bedene now leads their head to head series 2-1 after Pospisil won their previous encounter in Valencia last year.
The Brit will face Luca Vanni in the next round after the Italian was successful against Jan Lennard Struff. In another tight contest, Vanni managed to edge the German 6-4 7-6(5) earlier today.
This is their second overall meeting but their first on the main tour. Bedene had previously defeated Vanni in a Slovenian futures event 6-1 6-1 in 2010. Both have made significant improvements since that match but Bedene currently ranks 61 places above Vanni and is a big favourite heading into the contest.
Elsewhere today there were wins for Lukas Rosol, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Gilles Muller. Top seed Stan Wawrinka is expected to make his season debut on Wednesday.
Bedene vs Vanni will take place on Thursday.
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