The former world No 13, now ranked 109 and on the road to recovery from a wrist injury, put in a classy display as he despatched the losing finalist in Jersey’s ATP March event, Jan Minar (CZE) 6-1, 6-2.
With an impressive speed around the court Nieminen put in a sharp performance to progress to the second round of the singles event and today faces Britain’s Daniel Evans, a champion at the last international in March, at 1 pm.
Fellow Briton Colin Fleming’s competition came to an end as he lost to Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen. Despite winning the first set 6-0 Fleming was no match for the former winner in Jersey and lost the deciding sets 6-4, 6-2.
