In-form Kei Nishikori got his Acapulco campaign off to the best possible start by defeating former Junior No.1 Thiemo de Bakker 6-0, 6-3. It was not a good day for wildcard or qualifier entrants, as all five players under one of those two categories fell in a day when all matches were decided in straight sets.
Nishikori was ruthless from the start against the Dutch Thiemo de Bakker. The Japanese star broke three times, losing only one point from nine against the de Bakker second serve. The second set proved as much a struggle on serve for de Bakker, thrice losing his serve again, though he did at least manage one service break of his own as Nishikori played a overly relaxed game.The second seed nonetheless sealed the win in just under one hour.
Robin Haase and Adrian Mannarino made short work of two Mexican wildcards, as they beat Luis Patino and Tigre Hank 6-1, 6-2 respectively. Victor Estrella Burgos, making his first appearance since an early defeat in the Santo Domingo Challenger, defeated the third Mexican wildcard Lucas Gomez 6-4, 6-2.
It was a mixed day for the two Americans in action. In a main draw featuring no fewer than eight Americans, Donald Young got off to an excellent start beating Gilles Muller in straight sets. Young survived ten aces from the racquet of the left-handed Muller, but the Luxembourger gave up an uncharacteristic six double-faults. Young saved three break points on the way to winning the first set, but managed a double break in the second for a 6-3, 6-3 win.
2015 Roland Garros Boys Singles Champion Tommy Paul could not make it two from two though, as he succumbed 6-2, 7-6 to the experienced Illya Marchenko. Paul was outplayed in the first set, but can take heart from his performance in the second, as he came from a break down to force the tiebreak.
Picks for Tuesday in bold:
Marin Cilic vs Ryan Harrison, David Ferrer vs John Millman, and Grigor Dimitrov vs Denis Kudla highlight Cancha Central court action on Tuesday.
Dominic Thiem vs Damir Dzumhur is on Grandstand.
Cancha 1 sees Steve Johnson vs Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Sam Querrey vs Dudi Sela.
Taylor Fritz vs Jeremy Chardy, Aljaz Bedene vs Ivo Karlovic, and Rajeev Ram vs Bernard Tomic are all on Cancha 2.
