Intro:

First round wins for Youzhny, Kohlschreiber and Raonic on day one of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.

Script:

Hot on the heels of the French Open, the tennis grass court season got underway in Halle on Monday with the first round of the Gerry Weber Open.

Mikhail Youzhny faced Robin Haase in his first round match.

Youzhny, the current world number 31, was rarely under pressure and closed out a clinical 6-3 6-2 win.

Next up, defending Champion and eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber took on fellow German Dustin Brown, ranked 163 in the world.

Brown made a spirited start, breaking Kohlschreiber in his first service game to seize the early initiative.

But the eighth seed fought back with a break of serve of his own, and his experience told in the tie-break which he took 7-4.

The second set went much the same way with Kohlschreiber unable to fully impose himself, but he did just enough in the tie-break to close out the match in two sets, 7-6 (4) 7-6 (4).

Fifth seed Milos Raonic took on another German Philipp Petzschner in his first round match.

Raonic was in imperious form and served up an impressive 19 aces over the course of two tight sets.

Petzschner put the young Canadian under significant pressure, but Raonic played the crucial points well and booked his place in the second round in straight sets, 7-5 7-6 (7-1).