Nicolas Mahut kicked off his Apia International Sydney campaign with a 6-2, 7-6(2) victory over Thomaz Bellucci on Sunday. The Frenchman, who is making his fifth tournament appearance, was a quarter-finalist last year. He prevailed over the Brazilian in one hour and 21 minutes, firing six aces.
Mahut will next face second seed Pablo Cuevas, with two-time defending champion Viktor Troicki also looming in his half of the draw. World No. 8 Dominic Thiem is the top seed at the ATP World Tour 250 event.
In other action, Thiago Monteiro, Gastao Elias, Matthew Barton and Christopher O'Connell all qualified for the main draw. O'Connell will be making his ATP World Tour debut.
On the doubles court, the Spanish-Italian duo of Pablo Carreno Busta and Fabio Fognini upset second seeds Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 6-3, 7-6(5).