German Dustin Brown showed a lot character and belief as he overcame sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko in the first round here at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart. He won the match 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(7).

The Russian held match point on his own serve at 5-4, 40/30 but squandered that opportunity to close out the match. Brown then put in an inspired performance to pull back 4 break points at 5-5, to finally close out the match in the fourth match point of the tie-break.

“I'm happy that I won the first round. Nikolay is a great player,” Brown told ATPWorldTour.com. “He was very solid from the back and returns well. I tried to play my game as best as I could, trying to be aggressive and not getting into too many rallies. I'm very happy I got through today, as the last time I played here I lost 7-6 in the third to Gilles Simon.”

“On the match point that I saved, he hit a good serve and I hit a good return. I got a high ball and felt I had to go for it, as the percentage wouldn't be on my side if I got into a rally. I’ve lost and I’ve won matches with match point. What goes around comes around, so I’m looking forward to the next round.”

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez looked in great shape in his opening round, as he dispatched Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-2, 6-3 in just one and a half hour. Garcia-Lopez has now improved his win-loss record to an even 15-15.