Kitzbuehel - Pere Riba of Spain has held off four set points in the opener before defeating Dustin Brown of Germany 7-6 (6), 7-5 in the first round of the Bet-at-Home Cup on Monday.
Riba trailed 6-2 in the tiebreaker before reeling off six straight points. Brown, who hit 14 aces, dropped serve at 5-5 in the second set.
Also, Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina beat eighth-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 and Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic defeated Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-4, 6-4.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain rallied to beat Victor Galovic of Croatia 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2 and Andreas Haider-Maurer defeated Gerald Melzer 6-2, 7-6 (1) in an all-Austrian tie.
Results from the first day of the ATP Kitzbuehel Cup on Monday (x denotes seeded player):
First round
Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) bt Gerald Melzer (AUT) 6-2, 7-6 (7/1)
Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) bt Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP x8) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
Albert Ramos (ESP) bt Viktor Galovic (CRO) 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-2
Pere Riba (ESP) bt Dustin Brown (GER) 7-6 (8/6), 7-5
Jiri Vesely (CZE) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-4, 6-4
Dominic Thiem (AUT x5) bt Joo Souza (BRA) 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 7-5