Spanish qualifier Ricardo Ojeda Lara upset sixth seed Jiri Vesely 6-3 7-6 on his ATP debut in the first round of the ATP 250 tournament in Pune. The Indian tournament has moved from the previous venue of Chennai to Pune for the first time in the history of this event.
Ojeda Lara faced just three points dropping his serve once. Vesely was broken three times from eight opportunities he faced. In the first set the Spanish player broke serve in the second game and earned three more break points in the fourth game, but Vesely saved them.
Vesely earned a break-back point chance in the seventh game but he failed to convert it. Ojeda Lara converted his fourth set point in the 9th game to close out the first set by 6-3.
The second set went on serve until the seventh game when Ojeda Lara got the first break. He failed to convert two match points when he served for the win in the 10th game before Vesely broke back to draw level to 5-5. Ojeda Lara held serve at love in the 12th game to force the match to the tie-break. He converted his fourth match point to seal the win by 7-5.
Frenchman Pierre Hugues Herbert battled past Italy’s Marco Cecchinato 7-6 7-6 6-2. The French doubles specialist fended off nine of the eleven break points he faced and broke four times. Both players traded breaks in the early games of the first set and served well in the next games en route to the tie-break. Herbert came back from 1-3 down by winning six of the next seven points to win the tie-break by 7-4. Cecchinato broke serve in the fourth game to open up a 4-1 lead but Herbert broke back in the seventh game. Herbert fended off a set point in the 12th game. He came back from 3-6 to 6-6 in the tie-break, but Cecchinato won the next two points to win the second set. In the third set Cecchinato earned five break point opportunities in the first and fifth games. Herbert saved all these opportunities and got the break at love in the sixth game to open up a 4-2 lead. Herbert sealed the win with another break in the eighth game.
Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics cruised past Nicolas Kicker 6-0 6-3 in 55 minutes. The Hungarian player broke five times and never faced a break point. Fucsovics broke three times to take a bagel win in the first set. Kicker dropped just one point in his first two service games. Fucsovics broke twice in the fifth and in the ninth games to win the second set. Fucsovics sealed the win on his third match point at deuce in the longest game of the match.
Giles Simon beat Tennys Sandgren 6-4 6-1 in 76 minutes. Sandgren converted two of his four break points he created, but he dropped his serve five times. Simon broke serve twice to race out to a 5-0 lead. Sandgren got both breaks back clawing his way back to 4-5, when Simon was serving for the set, but Simon broke serve at 15 to win the opening set by 6-4. The French player broke twice in the second and sixth games to close out the match.
