Mayer sails to first-round win in Brisbane

BRISBANE, Australia, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Sixth-seeded Florian Mayer claimed a brisk straight-set win Monday in opening-round play of the Brisbane International tennis tournament.

Mayer didn't face a break point while finishing off both of his own break chances for a 6-4, 6-4 win over Santiago Giraldo. Although there were 10 games in the match, it took just 65 minutes to complete.

Mayer won an amazing 82 percent (41-of-50) points on serve. Giraldo won a strong 68 percent of his own serves but lost the only two break points in the match.

No. 5-seeded Kei Nishikori also won in straight sets, beating Marinko Matosevic 7-5, 6-2, although the match was closer than Mayer's. Nishikori had four breaks on the day and won 50 percent of the points when Matosevic served.

Jarkko Nieminen claimed nearly two-thirds of the points in the final set of a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 decision over Julien Benneteau and Marcos Baghdatis, who didn't lose his serve, capped Monday's play with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Benjamin Mitchell.