Juan Martin del Potro made a successful clay-court comeback after three years away when he beat Dustin Brown 7-6 (2), 6-4 to advance to the second round of the BMW Open Wednesday. Del Potro won the US Open in 2009 and was ranked as high as No. 4 in the world until a long-lasting wrist in jury hindered his career. A wild-card entry into the Munich tournament, del Potro cruised in the tiebreaker and went up two breaks in the second set. But he could not serve out the match at 5-1. Brown saved a match point with a backhand winner down the line to cut the deficit to 5-4. But the erratic Brown could not hold serve while trying to even the set. He saved two more match points before committing a double-fault on the third. Earlier, second-seeded Gael Monfils pulled out of the event with a groin injury sustained in practice. Monfils said cold weather may have been behind the injury or "because I've played a lot recently." It was the third consecutive year that Monfils had to withdraw from the clay-court event because of injury. He had a bye into the second round. The weather has been unseasonably cold this week in Munich, with rain and even snow disrupting the schedule. Del Potro and others played in long sleeves and leggings as the temperature remained cool. Also, fifth-seeded Fabio Fognini advanced to the second round by beating Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 6-1, eight-seeded Alexander Zverev outlasted Malek Jaziri 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and Jan-Lennard Struff eliminated seventh-seeded Vasek Pospisil 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2. Safarova in quarters In Prague, second-seeded Lucie Safarova advanced to the quarterfinals of the Prague Open Wednesday after Lucie Hradecka retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 2-0. Safarova will next face Hsieh Su-Wei, who defeated Ana Konjuh 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. Defending champion Karolina Pliskova also advanced, beating Czech wild-card entry Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-4. Also, Camila Giorgi eliminated qualifier Virginie Razzano 6-1, 7-5, and Monica Piug beat lucky loser Barbora Krejcikova 6-4, 6-4. Garcia-Lopez in quarters In Portugal, fifth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain beat Stephane Robert of France 6-3, 7-6 (3) to advance to the quarterfinals of the clay court Estoril Open Wednesday. The 47th-ranked Spaniard will next face the winner of a late match between France's Benoit Paire and Kyle Edmund of Britain. Sixth-seeded Borna Coric of Croatia also made it to the quarterfinals by beating Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. Coric's next opponent will be either second-seeded Nick Kyrgios or Inigo Cervantes. Eighth-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain eased past countryman Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-3 to reach the second round. Verdasco acknowledged his victory just 48 hours earlier over Lucas Pouille in the Nastase Tiriac Trophy final in Bucharest, Romania had left him "a little tired from a week of tough matches." — Agencies
