Tennis-Fish returns to winning ways in Los Angeles opener

By Simon Cambers

LOS ANGELES, Aug 4 (Reuters) - American Mardy Fish picked up his first victory since June when he eased to a 6-2 6-2 triumph over Alejandro Falla of Colombia to reach the second round of the Los Angeles Classic on Monday.

The sixth seed needed just 61 minutes to set up a clash with either compatriot Vince Spadea or Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.

Fish went into the tournament on the back of four straight defeats but from the moment he broke serve in the third game, he was in complete control against the world number 121.

After wrapping up the first set, Fish broke in the first game of the second set on his way to a comfortable victory.

Earlier on Monday, German Denis Gremelmayr also returned to winning ways, beating Italian Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-2 in another first round encounter.

Gremelmayr had not won a match since April but was still too good for the Italian, easing through to a second-round meeting with fourth seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain.

"I started pretty well and I am focused on this tournament," Gremelmayr told reporters.

"I love to play on hard courts. I had some problems in the middle of the match but I came back well. It will be a tough second round now against Feliciano, but we will see."