ATP Roundup: De Minaur Stages Comeback in Vienna, Tiafoe and Tsitsipas Claim Victories

Second seed Alex de Minaur (25) from Australia made a strong recovery after a challenging first set, ultimately overcoming Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff (34) with a score of 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open held on Tuesday in Vienna, Austria.

Struff dominated the initial set, winning 10 out of 11 first-serve points; however, de Minaur seized control thereafter. He concluded the match with a successful conversion rate of 4-for-6 in both saving break points and breaking Struff's serve.

In a poignant conclusion to the career of Austrian star Dominic Thiem, Italy's Luciano Darderi triumphed with a score of 7-6(6), 6-2. Thiem, a former World No. 3, struggled to regain his form following a significant right wrist injury sustained in 2021. Following the match, he was met with a resounding ovation, and his racket was enshrined in a glass case.

Also progressing to the next round in straight sets were American No. 5 seed Frances Tiafoe, Italian No. 6 seed Lorenzo Musetti, British No. 7 seed Jack Draper, American Marcos Giron, Frenchman Gael Monfils, and Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic.

At the Swiss Indoors Basel, No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece required 2 hours and 32 minutes to defeat Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo with a score of 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(4) in the first round.

Tsitsipas found himself trailing 4-2 in the third-set tiebreaker but rallied to win the final five points consecutively. Although Cerundolo outperformed Tsitsipas in aces, 9 to 6, Tsitsipas successfully saved six out of eight break points. His next opponent will be Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp, who was leading 3-6, 6-4, 4-0 when Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik retired due to injury.

No. 4 seed Holger Rune of Denmark secured a victory over Nicolas Jarry of Chile with a score of 6-4, 7-6(3), while No. 6 seed Ben Shelton from the US defeated Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-4. Canadian Denis Shapovalov, Swiss Dominic Stricker, and Chilean Alejandro Tabilo all advanced in straight sets.

SportsLigue