ATP roundup: Karen Khachanov starts strong in Doha

No. 6 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia bested American challenger Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (3), 6-3, in the first round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Monday at Doha, Qatar.

Khachanov served up eight aces to McDonald's one, saved all three break points he faced and went 2-for-2 in breaking McDonald's serve. The first-set tiebreak stood at 3-3 with McDonald serving when Khachanov took control and won the final four points.

No. 5 seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain, the only other seeded player in action Monday, dispatched Belarus' Egor Gerasimov 6-4, 6-4.

Alex Molcan of Slovakia rallied to beat Australian qualifier Christopher O'Connell 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-4, in nearly two hours and 36 minutes. Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea and Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands also were first-round victors.

Open 13 Provence

No. 5 seed Ilya Ivashka of Belarus survived a tightly contested first set and defeated Slovakia's Norbert Gombos 7-6 (5), 6-3, in the first round at Marseilles, France.

Gombos led the first-set tiebreak 5-4 before Ivashka came back and won the last three points. Ivashka broke Gombos' serve twice and took advantage of his opponent's five double faults.

Italy's Stefano Travaglia eked out a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1) victory over Switzerland's Henri Laaksonen. Frenchman Richard Gasquet got by Sweden's Mikael Ymer 6-4, 7-5.

Delray Beach Open

Australia's John Millman pulled out a serving-dominated win over eighth-seeded Maxime Cressy of the United States in the first round at Delray Beach, Fla., 6-7 (2), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3).

The match featured just two service breaks, one by each player in the second set. Each players won 80 percent of his first-serve points and saved four of the five break points on his serve.

Brandon Nakashima routed