Hamberg, Germany (Reuters): Second-seeded Andrey Rublev saved three match points in the deciding tiebreaker to escape with a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory over Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the first round of the Hamburg European Open on Wednesday.
The Russian trailed 6-4 in the tiebreak before saving the next two points. After Zapata Miralles went back ahead 7-6, Rublev saved another as part of recording three straight points to win the two-hour, 53-minute match.
In another first-round match, top-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway notched a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Sebastian Baez.
In second-round play, fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev beat Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 7-5 in an all-German affair. Other second-round winners include Frenchman Luca Van Assche and Serbian Laslo Djere.
Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag
Australia’s Alexei Popyrin converted four of five break points while posting a 6-4, 6-1 victory over third-seeded Austrian Sebastian Ofner in a second-round match at Umag.
In other second-round play, seventh-seeded Matteo Arnaldi was a 6-3, 7-6 (5) winner over fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli. Also, Croatia’s Dino Prizmic beat Hungary’s Zsombor Piros 6-2, 6-3.
Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, the No. 6 seed, registered a 6-3, 6-2 win over Filip Misolic of Austria. Also winning first-round matches were Jaume Munar of Spain, Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan, Argentina’s Federico Coria and Italy’s Marco Cecchinato.
Atlanta Open
Fifth-seeded Christopher Eubanks, competing in his hometown, rallied for a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5 victory over Brandon Nakashima in an all-U.S. second-round matchup at Atlanta.
Eubanks got the first service break of the match to take a 5-4 lead in the second set, then leveled the match in the next game. The third set followed the same pattern, with Eubanks getting the only break in the penalty game before sealing the victory.
In other second-round action, second-seeded Alex de Minaur thrashed Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 6-4 in an all-Australian match, Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic upset fourth-seeded Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3), and seventh-seeded Ugo Humbert of France eliminated South Africa’s Lloyd Harris 7-6 (6), 6-4.
