Mannarino returned to victory against the Russian Safiullin in Almaty, Gasquet gave him a good battle but lost to Etcheverry in Antwerp.
The only tricolor in the table at the ATP 250 in Almaty escaped this Tuesday. After the last-minute withdrawal of Tokyo ATP 500 winner Arthur Fils, Adrian Mannarino wore the French colors alone. Designated seed number 8 in the tournament, the left-hander faced Roman Safiullin who was coming off a very good tournament at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai. A disputed confrontation but which turned to the advantage of “Manna”. Yet lacking confidence, the 56th in the world initially led 7-5, 5-3 played much better tennis to turn the match around and win in three sets: 5-7, 7-6, 6-3.
He will face James Duckworth or Aleksandar Vukic in the second round.
He who announced last week that he would retire after the next Roland-Garros, at 38 years old, Richard Gasquet (135th) stood up to Etcheverry (35th), much better ranked than him at , but gave in in the key moments of the match at the ATP 250 in Antwerp. The Frenchman lost 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 against the Argentinian this Monday in the first round of the tournament.
In the first set, Gasquet managed to break the break to take the Argentinian into a tie-break, but lost it 7-4. “Richie” also broke down at the end of the second set, giving up his serve at 4-4. The Argentinian then easily concluded with his throw-in.
Etcheverry, 25, could find another Frenchman in the second round, Luca Van Assche (119th), from qualifying, who will play this Tuesday against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista (60th)
