Sixth seed Joao Sousa needed only 53 minutes to beat 2016 Gerry Weber Open titlist Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday at the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya. Sousa hit eight aces and dropped only two points on his first serve (20/22).
The 29-year-old Sousa is going for his second ATP World Tour title of the season after triumphing last month at his home Millennium Estoril Open in Portugal. Sousa will next face Italy's Paolo Lorenzi or Mirza Basic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili also advanced on day one, beating Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2, 6-3. Basilashvili will next meet eighth seed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia or Slovakian qualifier Filip Horansky.
Defending champion and seventh seed Yuichi Sugita of Japan headlines Monday action in Turkey against Argentina's Guido Pella.
