Russia’s Roman Safiullin sent fifth-seeded Alexandre Muller of France packing with a 7-6 (5), 7-5 win in first-round play on the grass at the Mallorca Championships in Spain. Safiullin entered the match ranked 75th in the world while Muller was No. 40.
Sixth-seeded Gabriel Diallo of Canada took care of Spain’s Jaume Munar 7-5, 6-3 on center court. Learner Tien, a 19-year-old American, handled 17-year-old German Justin Engel 6-4, 6-4. His reward is a second-round match with top-seeded Ben Shelton.
Ethan Quinn and Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic collected straight-set wins while France’s Corentin Moutet and Arthur Rinderknech needed three sets to claim their Round 1 wins. Rinderknech takes on second-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in the next round.
Lexus Eastbourne Open
Sixth-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina needed an hour to secure the first set against Chun-Hsin Tseng on Monday before seizing control for a 7-6 (6), 6-2 first-round victory in Eastbourne, England.
Fokina, a 26-year-old from Spain, never led in the opening set until the tiebreaker as both players held serve on the grass. Chinese Taipel’s Tseng fought off one match point in the tiebreaker before falling.
Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego and Mattia Bellucci also won in straight sets. Great Britain’s Daniel Evans advanced to a second-round match against No. 2 seed Tommy Paul by defeating Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Brazil’s Joao Fonseca will face top-seeded Taylor Fritz after rallying to beat Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 6-7 (8), 6-0, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
