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Mathieu sails in BMW Open first round

Published: April 28, 2008 at 2:10 PM
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Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu prepares a backhand during his third round match with Spaniard Rafael Nadal at the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris, France on June 3, 2006. Nadal advanced to the next round with a victory in a 4-set match that took almost 5 hours to complete . (UPI Photo/ David Silpa) | Enlarge

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MUNICH, Germany, April 28 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu won 70 percent of his points on serve in a first-round win over Daniel Brands Monday at the $555,000 BMW Open in Germany.

Mathieu, ranked 18th in the world, had little trouble in a 6-3, 6-3 decision over Brands to open the claycourt tournament. Mathieu was pushed to break points just twice in the match and broke Brands' serve three times.

Sixth-seeded Andreas Seppi and eighth-seeded Marin Cilic also claimed wins Monday. Seppi matched Mathieu with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Roko Karanusic and Cilic was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Olivier Rochus.

Also taking wins Monday were Simone Bolelli, Juan Martin Del Potro and Kristof Vliegen.

Defending BMW champion Philipp Kohlschreiber is seeded third this year.

The 2008 champion will earn $90,000.