STUTTGART, Germany — Teenager Taylor Fritz earned the chance to face his hero Roger Federer after the American defeated an unranked French qualifier Tuesday to reach the second round in Stuttgart.
Federer will be playing his first match in nearly a month after clearing up back pain and skipping the French Open, as he ramps up his preparations for Wimbledon.
Number 65 Fritz has had time on court with the Swiss legend — a Wimbledon training session a year ago — but booked his place into the match of his life with a 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 win over Fabrice Martin.
Fritz, 18, said he will not worry with nerves when he faces one of the best players on the planet.
The teenager said he had watched and admired Federer as a boy aged 11.
Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek, still going strong at age 37, booked into the second round as he beat Denis Istomin 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Viktor Troicki became the first seed to exit on the grass at the Weissenhof Club losing to German Florian Mayer 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
On Monday, Sam Groth of Australia fired 15 aces to overcome Illya Marchenko of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4 in the opening round of the Mercedes Cup.
Marchenko beat Groth in their only previous match in February on a Memphis hard court, but with Stuttgart switching its courts from clay to grass, Groth got the upper hand.
Also, local wild card Michael Berrer came from behind to beat Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4.
Wozniacki wins opener
In Nottingham, Caroline Wozniacki's first match in more than two months ended in victory as she beat Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the Nottingham Open Tuesday.
Wozniacki rolled her right ankle while practicing for the Fed Cup in early April and she missed the European clay-court swing. She'd last played in late March in Miami.
"It's just great to be back," she said. "You feel a bit rusty out there but at the same time it could have been a lot worse."
It was worse for two other seeds: No. 5 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium lost to Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 7-6 (7), and No. 7 Mona
Barthel of Germany fell to Alison Riske of the United States 6-2, 6-1.
Hlavackova was a lucky loser from qualifying who was promoted late into the main draw. Three qualifiers also won their openers: Ashleigh Barty of Australia, Michelle Larcher De Brito of Portugal, and Tara Moore of Britain, who was making her main draw debut on tour.
On Monday, Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic came late to the Open and avoided an early exit.
Saving the only break point she faced, Pliskova served superbly to outlast Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2.
She accepted a wild card only last week and took over the top seeding from Victoria Azarenka, who withdrew after practicing on the Nottingham grass for two days because she still couldn't play properly on the knee she injured at the French Open.
Pliskova's twin, Kristyna, couldn't get out of trouble against Anna Tatishvili of the US and lost 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Second-seeded Johanna Konta of Britain and No. 8 Christina McHale of the US also advanced.
Mahut thru
In the Netherlands, defending champion Nicolas Mahut made short work of his first-round match at the Ricoh Open Monday, beating Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-1, 6-4 to set up an all-French second-round match.
Mahut, who is seeking his third title on the Rosmalen grass courts in the Wimbledon tuneup, will next face Paul-Henri Mathieu, who beat Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-4, 6-4.
Stefan Kozlov of the US survived the first day of the tournament by beating Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, and Sam Querrey made it two US wins on the opening day, edging Benjamin Becker of Germany 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5).
