Defending champion Félix Auger-Aliassime has made a convincing start to the fiftieth edition of the ABN Amro Open. The number 8 in the world left the Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who is 60th in the world ranking, 6-2 6-3 without a chance in the opening round of the Rotterdam tennis tournament.
After 1 hour and 22 minutes, Auger-Aliassime finished with an ace, his thirteenth of the game. The Canadian himself was not broken and used all three break points. ,,It doesn’t always happen that I start a tournament so well. The score was clearly in my favour, but it didn’t feel like an easy win. I experience healthy pressure as title holder and am happy to be back here. I have great memories of this tournament,” said Auger-Aliassime. It was only his first match since the Australian Open for the 22-year-old defending champion. He made it to the fourth round in Melbourne.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Last year, Auger-Aliassime was too strong in the final 6-4 6-2 for the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who qualified for the second round in straight sets after a rough start tonight. The number 1 on the placement list was 7-5 6-1 too strong for the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, who occupies 52nd place in the global ranking.
Tsitsipas turned a 5-3 deficit into a set win in the first set and lost only one game after the first eight games. After just over an hour and a half, he used his third game point with a strong service, which Ruusuvuori proved too powerful. The 24-year-old Tsitsipas used four of his eight break points and gave up his own service game once. ,,It wasn’t the best start, but in the final phase of the first set I got better and better, also mentally. After the first set it went a lot smoother,” said Tsitsipas, finalist at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Jannick Sinner
In the second round, Tsitsipas may meet the Italian Jannik Sinner, who will only play for the first time on Wednesday. Sinner, winner of the Montpellier indoor tournament last week, will face the Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi on Wednesday. Tsitsipas is aiming for his tenth title in Rotterdam. He last won an indoor title in Marseille in 2020.
Daniel Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev has also reached the second round of the ABN AMRO Open. The Russian, placed sixth at the top international tournament in Rotterdam, beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He defeated the Spaniard late in the evening in three sets, 4-6 6-2 6-2. Only Medvedev had a bit of a hard time in the first set, which he promptly lost. In the next two acts, however, he constantly had the initiative and his victory was not in danger.
View the schedule and all results in Ahoy here.
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