First round matches were held on Tuesday at the clay court Challenger tournament in Heilbronn, Germany.
Unfortunately for the Russian contingent, both Marat Sharipov and Alexey Vatutin were defeated in their opening matches.
Qualifier Alexey Vatutin (Russia) lost to Switzerland`s Dominic Stricker. The final score was:
Alexey Vatutin (RUS, Q) – Dominic Stricker (SUI): 3-6, 5-7
Marat Sharipov (Russia) was defeated by American fifth seed Emilio Nava. Their match concluded with the score:
Marat Sharipov (RUS) – Emilio Nava (USA, 5): 3-6, 3-6
Marcus Blakely 
Gilbert Pendleton