BASTAD, Sweden (AP) — Top seeds Tomas Berdych and Nicolas Almagro began the Swedish Open by reaching the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Berdych and Almagro received first-round byes, and had contrasting wins.
Almagro, a three-time finalist in Bastad, got off to a rough start against fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez but rallied to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
His next opponent, Fernando Verdasco, also of Spain, beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 7-5.
Berdych, the No. 1 seed in the clay-court tournament, easily defeated Argentine Martin Alund 6-3, 6-0. It was the Czech’s first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Next up for Berdych is Thiemo De Bakker, the Dutchman who survived two match points before eliminating Viktor Troicki of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
