Tim Van Rijthoven is certainly making a name for himself as the young Dutchman, just a day after beating Benjamin Mitchell, defeated sixth seed Yannick Mertens in Canada. Once again the teenager recovered from a set deficit to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Van Rijthoven had been under pressure early in the first, and though he led in the second four-one, Mertens levelled the set at four-all. Van Rijthoven, who is right-handed and plays with a one-handed backhand, then won the next two games to pull ahead. The fourth set was close, featuring five breaks, but it was Van Rijthoven, serving first, who progressed and will now contest his first challenger quarter-final.
Also at that stage is British fourth seed Dan Evans, who wasted little time in dispatching Filip Horansky 6-0, 6-3 in a match lasting just forty-eight minutes. More surprising was the win for another Brit, lucky loser Edward Corrie, who defeated Mitchell Krueger 6-4, 6-2. Peter Polansky managed to let slip a five-love lead in the decider against third seed Igor Sijsling, but just managed to retrieve the situation, eventually winning through 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.
In the final first round matches fifth seed Renzo Olivo was given a scare by American Stefan Kozlov, who raced through the second set, and led by a break in third before eventually succumbing 6-3, 1-6, 7-5. Olivo broke his young opponent in the last game to ensure a tiebreak was not required. Denis Shapovalov defeated former junior no.1 Filip Peliwo 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Peliwo had required a wildcard to be eligible for this event, but could not win against his fellow wildcard.
