Tomic wins opener, Nadal faces Baghdatis in Stuttgart

Australia`s Bernard Tomic opened his 2015 grass-court season with a straight sets victory in Stuttgart on Tuesday while Marcos Baghdatis set up a second-round clash with Rafael Nadal.

Tomic, the fifth-seed at the ATP tournament in Stuttgart enjoyed a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win over Germany`s Jan-Lennard Struff.

The 22-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2011, converted three of his five break points for victory in 71 minutes.

"It`s very exciting for me to be back here," said Tomic, who was born in Stuttgart before his family immigrated to Australia. 

"My first match on grass was pretty good. I served and returned well in the first set.

"It`s all about finding your movement on the grass in the first match and I felt like it was pretty solid."

He will now face former world number two Tommy Haas of Germany in the second round.

Fourteen-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal will be looking to kick-start his season after dropping to 10th in the latest world rankings - his worst position in more than a decade.

Having lost to world number one Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the French Open last week, it is the 29-year-old`s lowest ranking since reaching 11th as a teenager in April 2005.

Having had a bye to the second round, Nadal will play Baghdatis after the Cypriot beat Lukas Rosol 6-3, 6-4 in their first-round clash with the 29-year-old looking to add to his lone win over Nadal from five years ago in Cincinnati.