Paire makes strong start in Gstaad

Benoit Paire made a strong start as the Swiss Open Gstaad got under way on Monday.

Number six seed Paire was a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) winner in his first-round match against Jozef Kovalik.

The Frenchman was not broken in the match, saving all eight of the break-point opportunities he offered up to Kovalik during a competitive 85-minute contest.

Paire's win follows a quarter-final appearance at the Hamburg European Open last week as the 32-year-old begins to recover from a dreadful first half of 2021.

Prior to his run in Hamburg, Paire had only won two ATP Tour matches this year.

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 19, 2021

Mikael Ymer had to come from behind before he progressed with a 4-6 6-3 6-3 win over lucky loser Enzo Couacaud.

The top four seeds at the ATP 250 event – led by Wimbledon semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov – get a bye through the first round and are therefore yet to begin their campaigns.

At the Croatia Open Umag, meanwhile, Radu Albot came out on top as he claimed a three-set victory over Holger Rune, with top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas and defending champion Dusan Lajovic not in action on day one.