Lajovic comfortable in opener as Novak downs compatriot

Eighth seed and 2017 quarter-finalist Dusan Lajovic breezed through his opening-round match at the Generali Open, as Dennis Novak won a battle of the home hopefuls.

Lajovic was handed a potentially tricky draw in the form of 2009 champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, but he triumphed 6-4 6-2 in Kitzbuhel on Monday.

Austrian duo Jurij Rodionov and Novak faced off in a topsy-turvy final match of the day, with the latter emerging a 6-4 0-6 6-1 winner.

Earlier, Mikhail Kukushkin, a semi-finalist at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne, came from behind to defeat Frenchman Corentin Moutet 4-6 6-3 6-4.

Yannick Hanfmann followed up his disappointing first-round defeat at the Swiss Open Gstaad, where he reached the final last year, with another. He lost 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 to Jaume Munar.

Denis Istomin saw off Federico Delbonis in straight sets.