Fifth-seeded Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan overcame a pair of third-set deficits and pulled out a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 win over Germany’s Oscar Otte on Monday in the first round of the Delray Beach (Fla.) Open.
Otte swept the second set in just 27 minutes, and he broke serve to go ahead 3-2 and 4-3 in the final set. However, Nishioka produced breaks in each of Otte’s final three service games to pull out the win in 1 hour, 55 minutes.
In other first-round action, Portuguese qualifier Nuno Borges slipped past the United States’ Steve Johnson 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez defeated Taiwanese qualifier Tung-Lin Wu 7-6 (3), 6-4; and the United States’ Denis Kudla rallied past Australia’s Jordan Thompson 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
In an all-U.S. night match, Michael Mmoh topped wild-card entrant Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Argentina Open
Bernabe Zapata Miralles won an all-Spanish matchup against Pedro Martinez, prevailing 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round at Buenos Aires.
In a battle of players ranked No. 73 (Martinez) and No. 74 (Zapata Miralles) in the world, Martinez caused many of his own problems by racking up 11 double serves and offsetting them with just one ace. Zapata Miralles finished with three aces and two double faults.
Serbia’s Laslo Djere moved into the Round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Italy’s Fabio Fognini, and Argentina’s Pedro Cachin got past Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 7-6 (2), 6-4.
Spain’s Jaume Munar served for the match in three separate games before finally closing out Argentine wild-card entrant Guido Pella 6-4, 7-5.
ABN AMRO Open
France’s Richard Gasquet eliminated seventh-seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the first round at Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The match turned with the score 1-1 in the second-set tiebreaker, as Gasquet took the next five points. After sealing the tiebreaker, he won the first four games of the third set to pull away.
French qualifier Gregoire Barrere scored a 6-0, 7-6 (3) win over Belgium’s David Goffin. Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov routed Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev 6-1, 6-3, and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka downed Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 7-6 (5), 6-4.
–Field Level Media
