ANTWERP, October 18, 2016

Florian Mayer emerged victorious from the first round battle of the veterans on Day 2 of the European Open, beating Spanish wild card Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-2. The 33-year-old German, who captured the biggest title in his career at this year’s Gerry Weber Open in Halle, sent down seven aces, winning 78 per cent of his first service points to advance in 69 minutes. Mayer set a second round meeting with the tournament’s top seed David Goffin on Thursday evening, leading 2-0 in head to head records.

With Jan-Lennard Struff another German made his way into the next round. The 26-year-old from Warstein rallied past Mikhail Youzhny 6-7, 6-3, 6-0. Struff fired 11 aces and converted eight of his 22 break point chances to prevail in two hours and 38 minutes. He will next take on either fifth seed Gilles Simon or qualifier Yannick Maden, who will appear in the main draw of an ATP World Tour event for the very first time.

British NextGen star Kyle Edmund opened his Antwerp campaign with a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Illya Marchenko of the Ukraine. The 21-year-old has achieved a new career-high ranking nine times this season, including when he rose to world number 43 on Monday. Edmund won 52 per cent of the total points played to finish the encounter in two hours and five minutes to face second seed David Ferrer next.

It was also a successful day for the qualifiers, as Marius Copil from Romania upset sixth favourite Joao Sousa from Portugal, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Copil awaits the winner of the match between Belgian wild card Steve Darcis and Benoire Paire of France. Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik edged past Guillermo Garcia-López from Spain with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win in one hour and 14 minutes to play fourth seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay in the second round.

Watch Day 2 highlights: