Opening day at the Puente Romano Tennis Club with the top Seeds victories in the Qualy Draw. favorites making good the predictions in the qualifying phase of the AnyTech365 Andalucía Open ATP 80 Challenger. Vit Kopriva, Carlos Sánchez Jover, Javier Barranco Cosano, Eduard Esteve Lobato, Holger Rune, Timofey Skatov and Nick Chappell won their first round matches.
The center court Manolo Santana hosted his first match where Nikolas Sánchez Izquierdo (No. 353 in the FedEx ATP Rankings) beat Angel Guerrero Melga (WC). The result was 6-1; 6-0 in less than an hour. Nikolas is full of confident after the final in La Nucia. He needs one more win to the Main Draw.
His opponent in the next round will be Timofey Skatov (8th seed). He won against the German Lucas Gerch. A game full of chances for both players that lasted almost two hours. 7-5; 7-5 for Skatov.
The second turn in the center court faced Vit Kopriva (1st Seed) and Alex Martí Pujolras (WC). Alex started strong (3-1) but Kopriva raised his level. The tiebreak decided the first set for Kopriva. During the second set, Alex try his best to stay in the match but the result was clear for Vit (6-2).
In the second round, the Czech will face another Spaniard, Eduard Esteve Lobato. Esteve Lobato won his match against the Italian Enrico Dalla Valle 6-3; 6-4. He showed a good leve lof tennis, he was runner-up in Gran Canaria Challenger 2 a few weeks ago; beaten such a good players as Guillermo García López (winner of 5 ATP titles).
Court No. 1 opened with another 100% Spanish match, Javier Barranco Cosano and José Francisco Vidal Azorín. The first one (No. 330) won the match 6-2; 6-4. Barranco Cosano will fase Nick Chappell. The American tennis player beat the Argentine Fermin Tenti by 6-0; 6-0. The match last just over an hour.
The Danish Holger Rune debuts with victory in the last turn of the central court. The final result 6-1; 6-3 against the Austrian David Pichler. The 2019 Roland Garros boys’ single champion get a Wild Card today for the ATP 250 main draw. Rune will fase now the 20-year-old Spanish player Carlos Sánchez Jover.
Carlos Sánchez Jover, currently ranked 592 in the FedEx ATP rankings, beat the Belgian Michael Geerts in straight sets (6-3; 6-2). An unexpected victory and an encouraging start to the season where he won the ITF M15 El Cairo title and he was runner-up in Monastir.
Big names on the order of play for Monday. Roberto Carballes, number one top seed and No. 96 in FedEx ATP Rankings will play on the Manolo Santana court against Henry Laaksonen.
Another big debut will be Ernest Gulbins. Six-titles champion, former Top 10 and Roland Garros semifinalist, Gulbis will fase the Rusian Evgeny Donskoy (8).
Court number 4 has on its schedule Martin Klizan. This tennis player has won 6 ATP titles and Maxime Cressy will be his opponent tomorrow.
Holger RUNE to David PICHLER 61 63
Carlos SÁNCHEZ JOVER to Michael GEERTS 63 62
Eduard ESTEVE LOBATO to Enrico DALLA VALLE 63 64
Vit KOPRIVA to Alex MARTÍ PUJOLRAS 76(4) 64
Nick CHAPPELL to Fermin TENTI 60 60
Javier BARRANCO COSANO to Jose Francisco VIDAL AZORIN 62 64
Nikolas SANCHEZ IZQUIERDO to Ángel GUERRERO MELGAR 61 60
Timofey SKATOV to Lucas GERCH 75 75