Nicolas Mahut brushed past Thomaz Bellucci to reach the Sydney International second round on Sunday.

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The Frenchman recorded a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) victory over Bellucci at the ATP 250 event, booking a meeting with second seed Pablo Cuevas.

In the only ATP main-draw match played, Mahut claimed his first win in three meetings with the left-handed Brazilian.

Mahut broke serve three times to complete his victory in one hour, 20 minutes.

He won his only previous meeting with Cuevas, a tough three-setter on clay in Rome last year.