Frenchman Simon cruises through in Brisbane

BRISBANE: Second seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon cruised into the second round of the Brisbane International with a comfortable straight sets win over American Ryan Sweeting on Monday.

Despite losing his first service game, the world number 12 was never in any trouble as he moved to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the big-serving Sweeting.

Simon has flown under the radar, with most of the attention focused on Britain's top seed Andy Murray.

But after a superb 2011, during which he won two ATP tournaments and took his ranking from 41 to 12, Simon showed he cannot be discounted this week.

Earlier, rising Australian star Bernard Tomic showed how far he has progressed in the last 12 months when he beat experienced Frenchman Julien Benneteau in three sets.

Tomic needed a wildcard to make the Brisbane tournament in 2011 but he has risen so quickly in the world rankings that this year he is the eighth seed.

He started brilliantly against Benneteau, racing to a 5-0 lead in the first set before the Frenchman began a stirring comeback, winning the second and pushing the 19-year-old Tomic right to the wire in the third, only to hand the Australian the match with a double fault.

Fourth seed Florian Mayer of Germany bowed out after he withdrew with a groin injury against Ukraine's Denis Istomin while trailing 6-7 (5/7), 3-2, while Luxembourg's Gilles Muller downed Ricardo Mello of Brazil 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. (AFP)