Bernard Tomic Of Australia
Bernard Tomic of Australia hits a return to Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic during their men's singles tennis match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London June 25, 2014. Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett

Defending champion 29th-ranked Australian Bernard Tomic will begin his title defense against Adrian Menendez-Maceiras at the 2015 Claro Open in Bogota, Colombia. It will be the first time that Tomic will play the 116th-ranked Spanish player.

Seeded second, Tomic received a bye into the second round where he will face Menendez-Maceiras, who advanced after scoring victory over local favourite Alejandro Gonzalez 4-6 6-4 7-6. Tomic is coming off from his first round upset against fellow compatriot John-Patrick Smith at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.

Tomic will be playing for his ninth Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) 250 event. He previously had five quarterfinal appearances at an ATP 250 event at the Brisbane International, APIA International Sydney, Memphis Open, and Delray Beach Open.

Menendez-Maceiras, who achieved his career-high singles rank at No. 111 last month, is also coming off from his first round exit at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. He is 0-3 this season, lost to Paolo Lorenzi in the first round 6-4 4-6 6-7 of the 2015 Ecuador Open and Tim Smyczek in the first round of ATP 1000 event in Miami. Menendez-Maceiras’ best performance this season was reaching the finals of ATP Challenger event at the BNP Paribas in January.

Joining Tomic at the 2015 Claro Open are fellow Aussies Sam Groth and John Millman, who was defeated in the first round by qualifier Alexander Sarkissian in straight sets 6-3 6-3. Groth, seeded sixth, will play Guido Pella in the first round.

The Claro Open replaced the Los Angeles ATP World Tour 250 event. It has returned to Colombia in 2013. Played in the hard courts of the Centro de Alto Rendimiento, the event gives the players the opportunity to prepare for the US Open.

The past champions in the last two years are coming back to play at the event. Ivo Karlovic of Croatia was the crowned champion in 2013. It is anticipated that Karlovic, whom Tomic faced in last year’s final, will be a tough contender to win the title. The players’ field also includes top 50 players - World No. 33 Adrian Mannarino, World No. 45 Marcos Baghdatis, and World No. 49 Victor Estrella Burgos.

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