Teen phenom Alexander Zverev defeated Luca Vanni in three sets to open play in the main draw at the Open Sud de France. Zverev was one of three main draw winners on the opening day of action in Montpellier, France.
Zverev Rallies Late to Open With Win
The 18-year-old German fought through some major adversity on Monday to notch a win in Montpellier. After taking the opening set against Luca Vanni in a tiebreak, Zverev found himself knotted at a set each after the Italian won the second 6-4. In the third, the German teen looked about done after falling down a break at 4-2. The set would stay on serve with Vanni trying to serve out the match at 5-4. Zverev was clutch as he saved a match point and eventually broke Vanni. Zverev would win the final three games to complete an impressive 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5 win. After the match, Zverev said he felt fortunate to win, “He played really well from the baseline and he was serving well. I had to fight hard and really dig in deep to get that win.”
Other Day One Results
Eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis was the only seeded player to take the court on Monday at the Open Sud de France. Baghdatis battled Lukas Lacko to a tight 7-5, 7-5 win. An uneven effort from both in the opening set saw multiple breaks of serve. Lacko scored the first to lead 3-1, but gave it right back in the following game. At 4-4, Lacko would be broken again as Baghdatis had an opportunity to close the set at 5-4. He did not as Lacko converted on the fourth break point of the 10th game to even the score at 5-5. Once again, an immediate break back would put Lacko in peril at 6-5. This time, the 8th seed would finish the job to take the first.
The second set would be held to a stalemate until late when Baghdatis converted on his first break point of the set to go up 6-5. Once again, he would serve out the set to close the match out. The win was the Cypriot's first tour level win of the new season. Baghdatis remarked afterwards that he thinks he can improve with more matches, “I don’t have many matches in my legs because I only played the Australian Open this year. Today was a matter of trying to find a way to win, to fight and that’s what I did.”
The only other main draw match of the day in singles saw Taro Daniel tackle Denis Istomin. The two non-seeds faced each other for the second time. Istomin had won a tense three set match from Daniel in Tokyo in 2014. This time, Daniel exacted his revenge with a swift 6-2, 6-2 win. Istomin was abysmal as he was broken four times and won just half of his service points. The win is Daniel's first at the ATP level since since last October. He will play Baghdatis in round two.
The lone doubles match of the day saw an upset. Borna Coric, who is also playing singles this week in Montpellier, teamed up with Antonio Sancic to stun 4th seeds Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin 3-6, 6-3, 10-1. The win should open up the top half of the draw even more for top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski.
Qualifiers Slotted Into Main Draw
Monday saw the completion of qualifying at Montpellier with the final four spots secured in the main draw. Top seed Eduoard Roger-Vasselin won in three sets over Igor Sijsling. Roger-Vasselin will take on Gael Monfils in the opening round. Frenchman Kenny De Schepper is in the main draw after beating Kimmer Coppjeans 6-3, 6-3. De Schepper battles Nikoloz Basilashvili in round one. The final two slots were taken by Elias Ymer and Dustin Brown. Ymer draws Paul-Henri Mathieu, while Dustin Brown gets a shot at Steve Darcis.
Tuesday's Schedule
There are eight singles matches scheduled for Tuesday. Sixth seed Joao Sousa starts the day on Court 2 against Ruben Bemelmans. Seventh seed Borna Coric will play on Court 1 against tough veteran Michael Berrer. The highlight match of the day should be Nicolas Mahut and Jan-Lennard Struff to open on Court 1. The two have met twice before with the German winning both matches, but three of their five sets played have featured tiebreaks.