The Dominican Republic Challenger in Santo Domingo saw three of the four seeds in action Monday depart from the draw defeated.
The biggest shock of the day saw Italian Alessandro Giannessi destroy the woefully out-of-form second seed Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-3 for a win that took just over sixty-one minutes.
That may have been the highest ranked seed to depart, but the match of the day belonged to a home favourite. Jose Hernandez-Fernandez, born and raised in Santo Domingo, defeated sixth seed and clay specialist Alejandro Gonzalez 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. The match featured twelve breaks of serve, six apiece. Both men struggled in the opening set, trading three breaks before Hernandez-Fernandez took advantage of errors from Gonzalez in the tiebreak. Gonzalez though, roared back and secured an early break in the second. Hernandez-Fernandez managed to retrieve it, but was broken again at four-all. A quick service hold from Gonzalez would see the seeded player become the favourite on paper once more. But the home crowd rallied Hernandez-Fernandez, and it would be he that struck first in the decider. Gonzalez’s firsts serve win percentage dropped below forty percent and he was broken early. This time it was who Gonzalez rallied, breaking back, but Hernandez-Fernandez immediately re-took the lead and managed to hold serve for the rest of the set to seal his passage to the third round.
Andre Ghem was the final seeded casualty on the first day, as the Brazilian veteran was upset by Frenchman Maxime Chazal 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. Gerald Melzer, the third seed, was the only one to escape the carnage, as he edged out wildcard Nicolas Jarry 7-6, 6-3.
Moving to Tuesday, there were far fewer shocks to be found. Roberto Carballes Baena (4), Andrej Martin (5), and Joao Souza (8) all made it through unscathed, though Souza did endure a tough three-set battle against Giovanni Lapentti eventually winning 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
Qualifier Roberto Quiroz, who had saved match points in the final qualification round against former Top 30 player Victor Hanescu, continued his run by defeating wildcard Emilio Gomez 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Quiroz is currently ranked outside the Top 1000.
Jozef Kovalik negotiated a potentially tricky opponent in qualifier Pere Riba 7-5, 7-6 and Calvin Hemery beat Jonathan Eysseric in an all French affair 6-4, 6-2. Other winners across the first round were Nicolas Kicker, Gianluca Naso, Franko Skugor, and Guido Andreozzi.
Wednesday (Second Round) Predictions:
Victor Estrella Burgos vs Gonzalo Lama (1st rd): This match to be completed on Wednesday due to Estrella-Burgos’ title run in Quito. Burgos is not only the top seed at this his home event, but is probably one of the best twenty players in the world on clay. Lama has little chance. Winner: Estrella Burgos in straight sets
Gerald Melzer vs Guido Andreozzi: This is perhaps the match of the day, as Gerald Melzer is just one week removed from his career high ranking of No. 120. Andreozzi though, is one of the toughest unseeded players in this draw, and also beat Melzer for the loss of just three games in their only previous career meeting four years ago. Winner: Melzer in three sets.
Jose Hernandez-Fernandez vs Nicolas Kicker: The home favourite is up against an in-form opponent in Argentine Nicolas Kicker. Hernandez-Fernandez will need to harness the support he received from the crowd if he is to conjure up another upset. Winner: Kicker in three sets.
Franko Skugor vs Alessandro Giannessi: Perhaps the most unheralded names in the second round, both nonetheless had excellent round one wins. Skugor defeated the evergreen Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo, a fomer ATP runner-up on clay, and Giannessi beat a poor Horacio Zeballos. Skugor has a little more experience at this level than the Italian, so I’m would expect Skugor to win this. Winner Skugor in straight sets.
