Barclays ATP World Tour Finals contender Dominic Thiem swept into the Erste Bank Open 500 second round on Tuesday at the expense of his Austrian compatriot, wild card Gerald Melzer, 6-0, 6-3 in 63 minutes.
Thiem, who has won four ATP World Tour titles from six finals this year, is currently No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Race To London with three spots left up for grabs at the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 13-20 November.
The third seed won the first seven games, and required just 21 minutes to wrap up the first set. He broke to love for a 5-3 lead in the second set, then recovered from 15/40 when serving for his 57th match win of the season (57-20 overall). Thiem hit 23 winners and lost only one of his first service points.
Thiem goes onto challenge Viktor Troicki, who beat Kevin Anderson in their third FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting this year, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 in two hours and 19 minutes. The pair had previously met in 2016 at the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the Chengdu Open.
Feliciano Lopez, the 2004 champion, saved one match point to oust seventh seed Lucas Pouille 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in two hours and eight minutes. Lopez, who recorded his 30th match win of the year, saved one match point at 4-5, 30/40 in the deciding set and goes onto face John Isner in the second round. "I knew that it was going to be tough," Lopez said. "I'm very happy with the result... I'm very happy to be back."
Gilles Simon extended his record to 7-0 against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in a 6-4, 7-5 victory to set up a meeting against top seed and 2014 champion Andy Murray or Martin Klizan. Simon's compatriot, sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, struck 11 aces to knock out qualifier Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4. "Straight sets... I'm really satisfied. I played good tennis today," Tsonga said.
Elsewhere, Kyle Edmund retired at 2-3 in the first set due to a hip injury against fifth seed and 2015 champion David Ferrer. Gerald Melzer's older brother, Jurgen Melzer, pleased the Austrian crowd with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut. The 35-year-old Melzer, who won Vienna in 2009 and 2010, saved eight of 10 break points and next meets Fabio Fognini or Albert Ramos-Vinolas. "It's such a pleasure to play at home," the elder Melzer said.