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The 17-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime has decided to stay in Europe and play on clay in July instead of going home for the Canadian Challengers on hard, receiving a wild card here in Umag and using it nicely, ousting a lucky loser Andrey Martin 6-4 6-3 in an hour and 37 minutes for his second ATP win. The young Canadian has lost his serve twice but he managed to overcome that deficit on the return with a solid display on the return, taking 48% of the points behind Martin's serve and scoring four breaks from six chances for straight sets triumph and the second round clash against the defending champion Andrey Rublev on Thursday.
Felix was off to a great start, breaking in game four to open a 4-1 gap before Martin responded with a break of his own in game seven. Auger-Aliassime held after a deuce in game nine and the first set was in his hands after a crucial break in game 10, despite a game point for Andrey.
Driven by this momentum, Felix raced into a 5-1 lead in set number two with breaks in games four and six and he closed the match with a hold at 5-3, losing serve once in between but keeping his focus to secure the place in the last 16.
Dusan Lajovic needed an hour and 17 minutes to topple Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-5 6-2 and join Felix in round two, defeating the Georgian for the first time in three matches. Lajovic fired 10 aces and he saved five out of six break points to keep the pressure on the other side of the net, where he also was the dominant figure.
Nikoloz served at only 48% and he had to play against eight break chances, losing serve on four occasions to hit an exit door, unable to keep the pace with his rival in the second set. The first set was competitive and they traded breaks in games four and five to stay neck and neck.
Dusan saved a break point in game 11 and he broke Nikoloz at 15 in the next game to take the opener 7-5. Both players served well in the first part of the second set and it was Lajovic who took full control at 2-2, holding at love in games five and seven and earning breaks in the sixth and eighth games to march into the second round. First round results: