New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Ben Shelton and Alex de Minaur faced tough first-round matches at the Hamburg Open. Both top-10 players needed three sets to move on in Germany.
World No. 6 Shelton, who is seeded second in Hamburg, beat lucky loser Marcos Giron 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3). This marked Shelton’s first win since he claimed the title in Munich last month. He started strong but Giron pushed him to a deciding set. Shelton regained his focus in the tie-break to secure the win.
Third seed de Minaur also had to fight hard. He came back from a set down to defeat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. This win ended a three-match losing streak for the Australian as he heads into the final stretch of the clay-court season.
Home fans cheered for German players Daniel Altmaier and Yannick Hanfmann, who both won their matches. Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Camilo Ugo Carabelli also moved on to the next round. Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Czech newcomer Jakub Mensik rounded out the list of winners on the first day.
In the Geneva Open, veteran Swiss player Stan Wawrinka had a thrilling 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5) win over Italy’s Raul Brancaccio. The 41-year-old wild card survived a tense tie-break in the deciding set and became the oldest player to win an ATP Tour clay-court match since Jimmy Connors in 1994.
Greek wild card Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced, but not without difficulty. After jumping to a 6-2 lead in the second-set tie-break, he struggled to close out the match. Finally, he converted his sixth match point to defeat France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 7-6(8).
In addition, fifth seed Arthur Rinderknech moved on, along with unseeded players Alex Michelsen, Lithuania’s Edas Butvilas, and Argentine duo Mariano Navone and Francisco Comesana.
–IANS
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