Barcelona - Marc Granollers has eased past Marinko Matosevic 6-2, 6-3 on the opening day of the Barcelona Open on Monday.
Granollers meets sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the next round, and he said that although the French player hadn't competed in many matches this year he was always "capable of playing great tennis."
He said he would need to play "his best version to stand a chance" of beating Tsonga.
In other matches, Pablo Andujar of Spain beat fellow countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-1 and Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci downed Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-1, 6-0.
Also, Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia beat Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-4, 6-2 and France's Benoit Paire defeated Spain's Jaume Munar 6-2, 6-2, while Mikhail Kukushkin of Russia beat Joao Sourza of Brazil 6-1, 6-0.
Results on the first day of the ATP Barcelona Open on Monday (x denotes seeding):
First round
Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) bt Jan-Leonard Struff (GER) 5-7, 7-5, 6-2
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) bt Joao Souza (POR) 6-1, 6-0
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) bt Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 6-1, 6-0
Benoit Paire (FRA) bt Jaume Munar (ESP) 6-2, 6-2
Marcel Granollers (ESP) bt Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 6-2, 6-3
Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) bt Mrton Fucsovics (HUN) 6-4, 6-2
Pablo Andjar (ESP) bt Albert Ramos (ESP) 6-4, 6-1
Elias Ymer (SWE) bt Thiemo de Bakker (NED) 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-4