Fifth-seeded Karen Khachanov did not face any break points in cruising past Japanese qualifier Rei Sakamoto 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Almaty Open on Tuesday in Kazakhstan.
The Russian lost only five points during his nine service games – which included winning 93% (28 of 30) on his first serve — in an ATP 250 match that required just one hour, 15 minutes. He had more aces (9-5) and winners (22-17) while Sakamoto led by a wide margin in unforced errors (33-6).
Seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece played almost exactly two hours in ousting Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6 (9), 3-6, 6-3. Tsitsipas won despite Kovacevic recording 13 aces to his seven.
France’s Terence Atmane downed Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 7-6 (5), 6-2, Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan held off Kazakhstan qualifier Timofey Skatov 7-5, 7-6 (4) and Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro outlasted Roman Safiullin of Russia 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4.
BNP Paribas Fortis European Open
French qualifier Clement Chidekh dominated seventh-seeded Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the ATP 250 event in Brussels.
Chidekh converted six of 15 break-point opportunities in knocking off the Netherlands’ van de Zandschulp for his first tour-level win. Each player recorded 18 winners, but Chidekh, ranked No. 152 in the world, had 10 fewer unforced errors (15) than the No. 38 van de Zandschulp.
Belgium’s Zizou Bergs, the No. 6 seed, beat Great Britain’s Toby Samuel 6-3, 7-6 (3) and eighth-seeded Mariano Navone downed fellow Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo 7-6 (10), 6-2 to advance to the round of 16. Top seed Arthur Fils of France advanced to the quarterfinals by walkover when Spain’s Jaume Munar (lower back) withdrew due to injury.
Belgium’s Raphael Collignon, Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor and Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff also won to advance to the round of 16.
Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
Fifth-seeded Brandon Nakashima earned a three-set victory in first-round play of the ATP 250 event in Lyon, France, but No. 7 seed Ugo Humbert and No. 8 seed Arthur Fery weren’t as fortunate.
Humbert lost to fellow Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4) in a battle lasting three hours, 21 minutes. Humbert had more aces (12-1) and winners (59-31), but those advantages were offset by committing 66 unforced errors compared to Moutet’s 28.
Croatian qualifier Borna Gojo, ranked No. 148 in the world, knocked off Fery of Great Britain 6-3, 7-6 (2). Gojo had the edge in aces (9-2) and winners (22-7) with just one more unforced error than Fery’s 24.
Nakashima stacked up 27 aces while securing a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-2 victory over Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic.
French qualifier Kyrian Jacquet defeated Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (4), 7-5, Germany’s Daniel Altmaier outlasted France’s Titouan Droguet 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) and France’s Benjamin Bonzi topped Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert and fellow Frenchman Luca Van Assche won their matches in straight sets.
–Field Level Media
