Google News
The 5th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas is through to the second round in Cordoba, beating a qualifier Facundo Bagnis 6-4, 7-6 in just under two hours. Albert had better numbers on both the first and second serve but still had to play against eight break chances, fending off six of those and prevailing in straight sets after stealing the rival's serve thrice from four opportunities.
The Spaniard had the upper hand in the first set, serving well and securing a break at love at 2-2 that carried him home with a hold at love in game ten. They traded breaks in games four and five in set number two and again at 5-5, with Ramos-Vinolas squandering a match point on serve in the 12th game before Bagnis broke back to set up a tie break.
There, the more experienced player claimed all the points behind the initial shot and grabbed two mini-breaks for a 7-3 and the place in the next round. Pedro Cachin used his wild card with both hands, ousting Hugo Dellien 6-1, 6-1 in 57 minutes for the first ATP win since Cordoba last year when he played in the quarter-final.
In 2019, Pedro clinched his final victory in July and lost the next ten encounters, losing ground in the rankings and playing much better in this clash to earn much-needed points. The Argentine lost serve once and Dellien was miles from that pace, losing more than 60% of the points in his games and suffering six breaks to send Cachin into round two.
The defending champion Juan Ignacio Londero took down the struggling Italian Marco Cecchinato 6-2, 7-5 in 69 minutes, dropping 16 points in ten service games and never facing a break point. On the other hand, Marco got broken three times, recovering after the opener to stay in touch in the first ten games of set number two before Londero broke him at 15 at 5-5, sealing the deal with a forehand down the line winner a few minutes later to enter the final 16.
Jaume Munar defeated Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 20 minutes, producing clinical performance on serve and dropping only seven points in his games to mount the pressure on the other side of the net. Serving at only 55%, Mayer couldn't follow that pace, losing ground on the second serve and getting broken three times to finish his campaign in the first round.
Settling into a nice rhythm early on, Munar sailed through his service games and broke the rival at 2-2 in the opener, securing the set with a service winner in game ten following a service winner. Things looked even better for the young Spaniard in set number two, serving even better and earning breaks in games three and nine to book the place in the next round.
Andrej Martin beat Federico Coria 7-6, 6-4 after grueling two hours and eight minutes, fending off seven out of ten break chances and delivering four breaks from 14 opportunities to seal the deal in straight sets. Coria led 4-2 in the opener before losing the advantage and a tight tie break, suffering two breaks in set number two to propel the Slovak through.
Corentin Moutet took down Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 17 minutes, producing five breaks of serve and toppling the Brazilian in the closing stages of the first and the beginning of the second set to find himself over the top.