CHENNAI, India — Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene knocked out second-seeded Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday in the second round of the Chennai Open.
Bedene hit seven aces to win in 1 hour, 25 minutes against his 14th-ranked opponent, who was broken once in each set.
"It’s my first win on the centre court here and I’ll remember this win," Bedene said. "I’m pleased with how I played today. I’ve been happy with my serves through the tournament and I hope to continue the same way in the next round."
Bedene will next play fifth-seeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who rallied to beat Japan’s Tatsuma Ito 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-0.
But third-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut needed only 69 minutes for a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over unseeded Peter Gojowczyk of Germany.
"I had to be focused to win like this because it’s never easy to start a new season," said Agut, who saved four break points in the first set. "Some games were tough as he has a very good serve. It was not as easy as the scores would suggest."
Agut will next play Lu Yen-Hsun after the sixth-seeded Taiwanese beat Pablo Carreno Batusta of Spain 6-4, 6-4.