The Irving Challenger suffered a blow on Wednesday when top seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez pulled out of the event. Lucky loser Michael Venus took full advantage, as the New Zealander defeated Italian Marco Cecchinato 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to move into the second round.
Venus had lost to Jason Jung in the final round of qualifying, but defeated the young Italian in three sets. He will now face teenage American Jared Donaldson in the second round.
Another lucky loser Giovanni Lapentti ousted Jung, as the Ecuadorian manage to recover from the loss of the first set to progress 4-6, 7-6, 6-2. Defending champion Aljaz Beden recorded a straightforward win against Rogerio Dutra Silva, 6-3, 6-2. American wildcard Francis Tiafoe defeated veteran German Benjamin Becker in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Tiafoe had given a great account of himself in Indian Wells, defeating Taylor Fritz before going down in three to David Goffin.
There was not such good fortune for a seeded American though, as Denis Kudla succumbed to German Mischa Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Kudla is in poor form, having recorded just one win in his last four tournaments.
Ivan Dodig made light work of Jozef Kovalik, winning 6-2, 6-2, and third seed Lukas Rosol beat Jakob Sude 6-2, 7-6. Eighth seed Illya Marchenko toughed out a close encounter with Philipp Petzschner, defeating the German veteran in a match lasting ten minutes short of three hours, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Evgeny Donskoy defeated fifth seed Inigo Cervantes 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, and Diego Schwartzmann was the beneficiary of a retirement from Michael Berrer. Schwartzmann had been leading 6-2, 2-1.
