IT was not a fun return home for Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Adelaide International, going down to Serbian Dusan Lajovic in three sets.

Kokkinakis took the first set 6-3, before Lajovic took the next two 6-1 6-4.

Kokkinakis finished with more aces than Lajovic, but also finished with the higher double faults tally.

Lajovic meanwhile finished with the better first serve percentage, had a higher first serve and second serve points won tally and saved more break points than the Aussie.

Lajovic’s next test will be against either the seventh seed Jiri Lehecka or the qualifier Adam Walton, with Lehecka and Walton set to battle each other later today.

Meanwhile things did not all go to plan for the seeds, with sixth seed Tomas Etcheverry going down to Alexander Shevchenko, with the Russian winning 7-6(4) 4-6 7-5.

Etcheverry did better in both the stats and double faults and had the better first serve percentage, but crucially for Shevchenko he won more points off his first serve than the Argentinian and also saved more break points.

Shevchenko’s next opponent will be the winner of the clash underway now between Aussie Christopher O’Connell and Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

ASB CLASSIC AUCKLAND

Meanwhile in Auckland it was not a good day for fellow Aussie Aleksander Vukic, who went down to Taro Daniel in straight sets.

In a close and hard fought match that latest almost one hour and 40 minutes, Daniel ultimately prevailed 7-5 7-5.

It was a clash with a high number of aces (12 to 8 in favour of Daniel) and plenty of break points saved (71 to 43 in favour of Daniel). Daniel’s high number of aces also came with a high number of double faults, finishing with 10 compared to Vukic’s two.

Daniel may have to face an Aussie again in the next round, with the winner of the Trans Tasman clash between Max Purcell and Kiranpal Pannu being Daniel’s next opponent.

Meanwhile in an all-French clash it was Alexandre Muller who emerged victorious. In an hour and a half he defeated countryman Benjamin Bonzi 6-3 7-5.

Muller smashed 16 aces compared to Bonzi’s 12, and also served a lot less double faults (two compared to eight).

Muller’s first serve percentage was 11 per cent better, and he also saved 11 more break points than Bonzi did.

Muller’s next opponent is Francisco Cerundolo, who got to enjoy a bye in the opening round.