Intro:

There were wins for Martin Klizan and Andrev Kuznetsov on the first day of the Croatian Open.

The Russian wild card had to battle past Spain's Daniel Munoz-De La Nava in three sets to make it through to round two.

Script:

The 2012 Croatian Open got underway in Umag.

The clay surface of the International Tennis Centre providing a stark contrast to the green grass of Wimbledon tennis fans have been watching the past two weeks.

First up on centre court was the 2009 junior champion from SW19, 21 year-old Russian wild card Andrev Kuznetsov.

He was up against Spain's Daniel Munoz-De La Nava.

He took the first set with ease 6-3, but then stuttered in the second, allowing Munoz-De La Nava to open up a 3-1 lead.

The Russian fought back to reach parity, but just as a tiebreak seemed certain, De La Nava broke serve in the twelfth game and levelled the match at one set all.

The deciding set did go to a tiebreak and this time Kuznetsov held his nerve to take it by seven points to five and book a place in round two.

There he'll meet either the 2010 champion and number six seed Juan Carlos Ferrero or another wild card, Croatian Mate Pavic.

Number seven seed, Martin Klizan from Slovakia had a much easier time of it, cruising past Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene 6-2, 6-2 in just 77 minutres.

Bedene had taken Klizan to three sets in the semi-finals in Prague earlier this year, but offered little resistance on this occasion.

Klizan will next meet Matthias Bachinger from Germany.