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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 8:33 a.m., Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Tennis: Meffert gets first win of year

Associated Press

GSTAAD, Switzerland — Dominik Meffert won his first ATP Tour match of the year with an upset victory over fifth-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy at the Swiss Open today.

The 27-year-old German, whose ranking of 162 is the highest of his career, beat 27th-ranked Seppi 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in their first-round match on the red clay of Gstaad.

Meffert had to win two qualifying matches to reach the main draw of the $625,000 event.

Seppi was the runner-up in Gstaad last year and reached the semifinals of the Masters Series event on clay in Hamburg, Germany, in May, losing to Roger Federer in two sets.

In the second round, Meffert will play Jeremy Chardy of France, who beat Luis Horna of Peru, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 7-5.

Sixth-seeded Nicolas Kiefer of Germany eased past Italy's Gianluca Naso 6-3, 6-2.

Top-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka has a bye to the second round, where he will face Stephane Bohli. Defending champion and second-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu will play Marin Cilic of Croatia in the second round.