Day three of the Grand Prix Hassan II saw round one action come to an end as round two got underway. Facundo Bagnis caused the big upset of the day, defeating the number two seed from Portugal Joao Sousa.
Seventh Seed Through
World number 52 Pablo Carreno Busta and Evgeny Donskoy of Russia traded breaks in the their opening service games, but Carreno Busta broke again for a 3-1 lead. Both players continued to hold and, at 5-2, the Spaniard broke once more and sealed the opening set inside 30 minutes.
The opening two games of the second set saw five break points in total, which were all saved by the two players. At 3-2, Carreno Busta confirmed his dominance and broke. He then consolidated and led 5-2. The 24-year old from Gijon needed a third match point for a 6-2, 6-3 victory and book his spot in round two against Denis Istomin.
Montanes Through in Battle of the Spaniards
Despite Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Albert Montanes breaking each other in the their opening service games, it was Gimeno-Traver who got broken in his second service game of the set. This time, Montanes would consolidate his break and lead 3-1. With the rest of the set going on serve, the 35-year old clinched the opener on his second set point 6-4.
The second set was much more even, with both players holding their serve until Montanes found that extra bit of motivation and broke at the third time of asking. The more experienced Spaniard held and now led a set and 5-3 up. Montanes needed only one match point to reach round three.
Facundo Bagnis Motivated as Number Two Seed Joao Sousa is Knocked Out
Facundo Bagnis got off to a bad start, gifting the break to Joao Sousa, but the Argentine didn't get too downhearted as he broke straight back for 1-1. With the Portuguese playing his first match on clay, Bagnis took advantage of any rustiness and broke and then consolidated for a healthy 4-1 lead. At 5-2, the 26-year old closed out the set on his second set point and Sousa had a lot of thinking to do at the change of ends.
Both players held their opening service game of the second set with ease, but the next two games saw a break of serve for each player. Bagnis continued to keep in touch with the world number 36 and with Sousa serving, Bagnis upped his game and on his second match point, clinched the upset to reach round three.
Frenchman Eases to Victory
Paul-Henri Mathieu continued his good week by defeating Maximo Gonzalez to reach round three. The service games were short and being won by each players pretty comfortably when at 3-2, the Frenchman broke and held his next service game for a healthy 5-2 lead. The Argentine held his next service game under tricky circumstances, having to fend off three set points.
In the world number 63's next service game, he broke back and consolidated to get the set back on level terms, having to save yet another three set points along the way. The set went to a tiebreaker and Mathieu took his chances and won 7-4. The Frenchman got off to a flyer in the second set, breaking the Argentine in the opening game. With less than half an hour on the clock, Mathieu served it out for the bagel.
Coric through as Bolelli withdraws
Rising star and second seed Borna Coric will have to wait to get on court here in Marrakech, as Italian Simone Bolelli withdrew with a knee injury.
The second round will continue tomorrow, including top seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.