Top-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway shook off a slow start to defeat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday in the second round of the Millennium Estoril (Portugal) Open.
In the first set, Sousa put 75 percent of his first serves in play and saved the only break point he faced. In the last two sets, Sousa had just a 47.4 percent first-serve rate, and he lost his serve five times.
Third-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain rolled past France’s Luca Van Assche 6-3, 7-5, and fifth-seeded Sebastian Baez won an all-Argentine matchup against Pedro Cachin, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
In an all-Italian showdown, Marco Cecchinato rallied past Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Grand Prix Hassan II
Seventh-seeded Benjamin Bonzi of France eliminated Russian lucky loser Alexey Vatutin 6-3, 6-3 in first-round action at Marrakech, Morocco. That was the only match of the day, as the rest of the slate was rained out.
Bonzi had a 5-0 advantage in aces and won 74 percent of his first-serve points compared to Vatutin’s 46 percent.
The event’s top four seeds — No. 1 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, No. 2 Daniel Evans of Great Britain, No. 3 Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands and No. 4 Tallon Griekspoor — are scheduled to play second-round matches on Thursday.
U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship
The entire day’s slate at Houston was rained out. No. 1 seed Frances Tiafoe, No. 2 Tommy Paul and No. 4 John Isner, all of the United States, are scheduled for to play in the second round on Thursday.
–Field Level Media