Gilles Simon beats qualifier Brands in Rotterdam

Fifth-seeded Gilles Simon beat Belgian qualifier Daniel Brands 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Monday in the first round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The Frenchman struggled with his serve in the first set, as both players broke twice before Simon comfortably won the tiebreaker on the indoor hard court. Simon broke Brands once to take the second set and wrap up the match in 92 minutes. In the tournament's first upset, Romania's Victor Hanescu beat seventh-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 7-6 (4), 6-3, while Bernard Tomic of Australia lost to Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was playing Dutch wild card Igor Sijsling in the evening session. Roger Federer opens the defense of his ABN AMRO title Wednesday.