Vienna, Austria, 17 October 2012 | AFP/tennis.com.au

Matthew Ebden has earned the second Australian victory at the ATP Austrian Open in as many days, beating Italy’s Filippo Volandri 7-5 0-6 6-0.

Marinko Matosevic had produced the shock of the first day of the tournament, beating Dutch sixth seed Robin Haase 1-6 6-3 6-2.

Ebden joined his compatriot in the second round in Vienna after defeating the Italian in one hour and 48 minutes, his big serve helping overcome a forgettable second set to progress to the second round.

The result will help Ebden begin the climb back up the ATP rankings after this week falling 53 places to No.120, the result of being unable to defend the large stash of quarterfinal points he earned this time last year at the Shanghai Masters.

His motivation will be high given he needs to be ranked inside the world’s top 104 to gain direct qualification into the main draw of Australian Open 2013.

Ebden’s win over Volandri sets up a second round showdown with qualifier Grega Zemlja of Slovenia, who upended No.8 seed Xavier Malisse in three sets.

Rodionova falls in Moscow

Aussie qualifier Anastasia Rodionova fell in the first round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.

The 6-4 6-3 result may seem a comfortable margin on paper, but Rodionova made Cornet battle for two hours and 14 minutes before ultimately going down.

Cornet advances to a second round meeting with another Aussie in top seed Sam Stosur.