Stefanos Tsitsipas eases past Hurkacz in Marseille opener

Australian Open semifinalist Stefanos Tsitsipas made light work of Hubert Hurkacz in his opening match at the Open 13 in Marseille.

Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open

Stefanos Tsitsipas got back to winning ways at the Open 13 on Wednesday with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory over Hubert Hurkacz.

The Australian Open semifinalist had suffered defeat to Damir Dzumhur in his first match at last week's Rotterdam Open, the Greek having been given a first-round bye.

He suffered no hangover in Marseille, though, with a comprehensive victory over the world number 78, Tsitsipas only needing 59 minutes to secure his progression.

Tsitsipas' growing fan base

Tsitsipas is joined in the last eight by Mikhail Kukushkin after he beat fourth seed Denis Shapovalov in straight sets.

Shapovalov hit 18 aces and only lost eight of his first-service points but it was not enough as Kukushkin rounded out a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win by converting his third match point.

Former champion Gilles Simon is also through, the 2015 winner bouncing back after losing the first set against Peter Gojowczyk to triumph 4-6 6-4 6-2.

In the final first-round matches there were wins for Matthias Bachinger, Gregoire Barrere and Ugo Humbert.