Defending champion Dominic Thiem advances at Rio Open

Rio de Janeiro: Austria's defending champion Dominic Thiem progressed to the round of 16 in the Rio Open tennis tournament by defeating Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-2, 7-5 here on Wednesday.

The second seed and world No.6 will next meet Pablo Andujar of Spain in the ATP 500 clay court event on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

France`s Gael Monfils also advanced with an entertaining 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 win over Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.

Monfils will meet last month's Australian Open runner-up Marin Cilic of Croatia in the round of 16 at the Jockey Club Brasileiro.

Spanish third seed Pablo Carreno Busta was another winner on the second day of the tournament, breezing past Italy`s Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 6-1.