For the first time since 1999, Singapore is hosting the ATP tournament at OCBC Arena in the Singapore Sports Hub. Staged right after the Australian Open, the event couldn't gather a notable field of players, and it should be interesting to see who will battle for the trophy in the end.
Five first-round encounters took place on Monday, with two wins for the Japanese players. Taro Daniel defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 after two hours and six minutes, fending off both break points and stealing Ramkumar's serve once in sets one and three to cross the finish line first.
The Japanese served well in the opener and grabbed a break in game six to win it 6-3. There were no break chances or deuces in set number two, and Ramanathan clinched the breaker 7-3 with three mini-breaks. Daniel saved those two break points in the deciding set's third game and broke the opponent a few minutes later to open a 3-1 advantage.
Yoshihito Nishioka, Taro Daniel and Alexei Popyrin reached the last 16 in Singapore.
The Japanese provided three comfortable holds after that to bring the victory home and advance into the second round. The young Bulgarian Adrian Andreev ousted the 7th seed Lloyd Harris 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 19 minutes, overcoming a slow start and fending off 12 out of 15 break chances to beat an injured opponent and move into the next round.
Maxime Cressy lost serve once in a 7-6, 6-2 triumph over Jason Jung in an hour and 29 minutes. They traded breaks in the middle of the opening set, and Cressy won the tie break 7-4 to gather a boost. The American served well in the second set and gained a couple of breaks to cross the finish line and secure his third ATP victory.
Yoshihito Nishioka defeated bested Michael Mmoh 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in an hour and 58 minutes, serving well and converting three out of ten break chances to cross the finish line first. Mmoh bounced back from a slow start to win the second set with a single break before Nishioka took charge in set number three to earn a break in game six and carry the lead over the top.
Alexei Popyrin ousted Christopher Eubanks in two tie breaks.