Italy’s Matteo Berrettini rallied to upset top-seeded Karen Khachanov in the second round of the Sofia (Bulgaria) Open.
Tennis – Australian Open – First Round – Court 3, Melbourne, Australia, January 14, 2019. Italy’s Matteo Berrettini serves during the match against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
After falling behind 5-2 at the start and losing the first set in a tiebreaker, Berrettini pulled off a 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4 win.
“It was a very difficult first set, I didn’t play so well,” Berrettini said, according to Reuters. “But then I improved my performance in the second set and I think I played very well in the third.”
Also advancing to the quarterfinals in Sofia was fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard defeated Australia’s Matthew Ebden 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Sixth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain beat Bulgarian qualifier Alexandar Lazarov 6-2, 6-1, while eighth-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi lost 6-2, 7-6 (2) to Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in first-round action. Slovakia’s Martin Klizan and Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin also won first-round matches.
Open Sud de France
Filip Krajinovic booked a quarterfinal place by upsetting second-seeded Belgian David Goffin 6-4, 6-4 in the second round at Montpellier, France.
Krajinovic put 72 percent of his first serves in play compared to 52 percent for Goffin, and the Serbian saved all four of the break points he faced.
In a pair of all-French second-round matchups, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got past fourth-seeded Gilles Simon 6-2, 7-6 (3), and sixth-seeded Jeremy Chardy defeated qualifier Antoine Hoang 6-3, 7-5. The Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych got past eighth-seeded Benoit Paire of France 6-2, 6-0.
Moldova’s Radu Albot, Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis and Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka won the final three first-round matches.
Cordoba Open
Two Argentinian players won the only two singles matches of the day in Cordoba, Argentina.
Qualifier Pedro Cachin advanced when fourth-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta retired due to a shoulder injury while trailing 1-0 in the second set. Carreno Busta had won the first set 7-6 (3).
Juan Ignacio Londero posted a 7-5, 6-3 win over Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
—Field Level Media