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The 13th ranked Marin Cilic had an easy win over Alejandro Falla of Colombia in the opening round of the Bank Austria Trophy on Tuesday. He defeated the Colombian in straight sets by 6-2, 6-3.
Cilic has a slim chance of qualifying for next month's ATP World Tour Finals, along with second-seeded Radek Stepanek and third-seeded Gael Monfils.
Another two-time winner on tour this year, Stepanek crushed Lukasz Kubot of Poland by 6-4, 6-1. Stepanek continued his good form by hitting 10 aces. The Czech who had made into his first quarterfinals since April in Shanghai reached three finals in January and February. He will next play against Frederico Gil of Portugal. Fourth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated qualifier Dieter Kindlmann by 6-1, 6-3 in an all-German match.
Kohlschreiber who was a semi-finalist in Vienna last year said, "I was quite nervous to play him. Everyone expected me to win so that put some pressure on me. They’ve made the court a bit faster than last year so it'll take me some time to get used to it."
In other first-round play, Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic established a 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 win over Andreas Seppi of Italy, and Michael Berrer outclassed Steve Darcis of Belgium by 6-3, 6-2.
