Duo battle to Rotterdam wins
Nieminen and Seppi reach round two in three sets
Last Updated: February 14, 2012 6:06pm
Jarkko Nieminen: Three-set victory in Rotterdam
Jarkko Nieminen and Andreas Seppi were both taken to deciding sets before booking their place in the second round of the Rotterdam Open.
Finland's Nieminen battled to a 6-1 6-7 (7/9) 7-5 victory over world No.151 Igor Sijsling, while Seppi dug deep to overcome South African qualifier Rik De Voest 1-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-2.
Italy's Seppi is playing the indoor event for the sixth time but has never been past the quarter-finals at the Ahoy Stadium.
Speaking after his victory, which took just under two hours to complete, Seppi said: "It was tough. He played well in the first set but I had a good second set.
Upset
"I had to get used to the court after clay at the (Davis Cup) weekend and he had two qualifying matches here already. I fought to the end and I'm happy to get through."
Nieminen, who upset David Ferrer in the first round here 12 months ago, also came through in three sets against unheralded Dutchman Sijsling.
After trading the first two sets, the Finn took a 4-2 lead in the decider, only to see his opponent battle back to 4-4.
Nieminen finally broke in the 12th game to progress and book a second round meeting with Pole Lukasz Kubot.
Top-seeds Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin Del Potro will all kick-off their campaigns on Wednesday.
