Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber overcame a slow start to advance to the second round of the Heineken Open tennis tournament in Auckland with a three-set victory over Argentina's Carlos Berlocq.
The 2008 champion was the only seeded player to appear in the singles on the opening day, and it looked like he may be on an early flight to the practice courts in Melbourne for next week's Australian Open after the 66th-ranked Berlocq won the first set.
However Kohlschreiber won the second and then ran away with the third.
Spain's Tommy Robredo, who made the final on the central Auckland courts in 2007, was forced into a unexpected three-set battle against New Zealand wildcard Michael Venus.
