Andrey Rublev, first seed of this Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Conde de Godó Trophy, already has a rival. It will be on Wednesday, in his debut in the second round, when the Russian will face Brandon Kasashima. The number 87 in the ATP ranking opened the competition on the Andrés Gimeno court, crowded and with queues to enter despite it being a priori minor duel and being a Monday morning, to a Daniel Evans who last year reached place in the semifinals, then defeated by Carlos Alcaraz, but now falls in the first round.
Evans started with problems on his serve, which Nakashima took advantage of to break his serve in the fourth game. He was about to give it back in the next one, but the American was at 4-1 that seemed insurmountable. And he won the first set, yes, but he had to resort to a tie break in which he won 7-5.
The second set was much more even, with two tennis players generally not very fond of clay, until again the American of Vietnamese and Japanese origin broke his opponent’s serve again in the fifth game. And also the next one, which placed an abysmal 5-2, this time yes. Not in vain, on the bench, Evans looked at the ground and cursed his luck. It was no wonder, since a blank game allowed Nakashima to win definitively. 7-5 and wait for Rublev.
The confrontation between Matteo Arnaldi and Arthur Cazaux was resolved much more quickly, which was definitively interrupted when they were tied at five games (and 40-40) in the first set, due to the Frenchman’s injury, when he jammed his right ankle on the clay of the Andrés Gimeno track. Cazaux had precisely been the protagonist just a few weeks ago due to a faint during the Masters 1000 in Miami, which put the public in suspense and which was probably due to heat stroke. It will therefore be Arnaldi who plays against Sebastián Báez on Wednesday.
Trungelliti, first win in Barcelona
Argentine like Báez is Marco Trungelliti, number 197 in the world and in love with both the Barcelona tournament and its current director, David Ferrer, who was his idol. Not from childhood, because he is 34 years old, and yet this Monday was his first victory at Godó.
Trungelliti inflicted a 6-2 lead in the first set on Duje Ajdukovic and recovered from a break of serve in the second (7-6) to end up winning in the tie break, 7-3. His next opponent will be Chilean Nicolás Jarry, world number 22.
While waiting for the top seeds, and with the Spaniards completely occupying the center court, the first day of the Godó will continue between court 2 and Andrés Gimeno.
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Pavel Tokov or Sebastian Ofner will face each other to determine who will face Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday, who has just won the Monte Carlo Masters 1000. The Harold Mayot-Pedro Cachín will complete this Monday.
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2024-04-15 11:26:23
#Evans #standing #Alcaraz #falling
