Julien Benneteau scored his sixth singles win of the season on Monday with an upset against fifth seed Martin Klizan to kick off the 14th Moselle Open in Metz, France. Benneteau beat the left-handed Slovakian 6-2, 6-1 in 56 minutes to move into the second round in his home country.
The 34-year-old has posted a 13-9 doubles record this season but has limited his singles matches since undergoing abductor surgery on 9 June 2015. Benneteau, ranked No. 238 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, needed a wild card to get into the Moselle Open.
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But he seems to have hit his stride in recent months. Benneteau reached the quarter-finals in Abierto Mexicano Mifel and the second round at the Western & Southern Open, which included a first-round win over David Ferrer. The Bourg-en-Bresse native will play countryman Paul-Henri Mathieu or German Dustin Brown in the second round.
Sixth seed Gilles Muller advanced past Argentine Horacio Zeballos 7-6(5), 7-5. Muller recorded 19 aces and won 87 per cent of his first-serve points (39/45). The left-handed Luxembourg native will face a qualifier in the second round, either Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili or Frenchman Gregoire Barrere.
In doubles main draw action, No. 2 seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin beat Chris Guccione and Andre Sa 6-4 7-5. Fourth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi beat French wild cards Barrere and Albano Olivetti 6-3, 6-7(7), 10-7.