Stuttgart, Germany, July 15 (DPA) Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu began reversing a career-long loss streak against Mikhail Youzhny as he defeated the Russian 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) for a place in the second round of the Mercedes Cup tennis Wednesday.
The 39th-ranked Mathieu claimed his first victory after defeats dating back to 2002 as he came through after two hours, 11 minutes at the Weissenhof club.
The unseeded Mathieu was broken while serving for victory in the second set at 5-4 but eventually produced the desired result in a second winning tiebreaker.
He won into a match with Italian Fabio Fognini on a day which began with steady rain but cleared to afternoon sun.
Youzhny has now lost his last five matches, including the Wimbledon first round and a weekend Davis Cup rubber against Israeli Dudi Sela.
Mathieu, 27, improved to a modest 18-17 in 2009 with his best result a Brisbane semi-final in the first week of the year.
His last two ATP titles came on clay in 2007 on clay in Casablanca and Gstaad.
Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello advanced in his opening match over Andrey Golubev of Kazakstan 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.
After six Germans on court Tuesday, veteran Rainer Schuettler was the only home competitor in action, taking on Romanian fourth seed Victor Hanescu for a quarter-final place.