Andreas Seppi through at Dubai Tennis Championships

Andreas Seppi has reached the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a three-set victory over Florian Mayer.

The Italian world number 31 lost a tight opening set 4-6 before brushing aside his German opponent 6-1 in the second.

Seppi then battled through a nervy deciding set to close out the contest 7-5 with just under two hours on the clock.

He will now face either seventh seed Philipp Kohlschreiber or qualifier Thiemo de Bakker for a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament.