World number 35 Tommy Paul beat Australian lucky loser Christopher O’Connell 6-4 7-5 with a break in the final game in both sets to reach the second round at the Adelaide International 2. Paul saved the only break point she saved and won 81% of his service points to win his first match of the season.
Paul reached two quarter finals last year in Adelaide 1 and 2 last year. During the 2022 season Paul beat Rafael Nadal in the second round in the Paris Bercy Masters 1000 tournament before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter final. The US player also beat Carlos Alcaraz and Marin Ciilc at the Canadian Open in Montreal before losing to Daniel Evans in the quarter finals. In the other tournaments Paul reached the semifinals in Delray Beach, the quarter finals in Acapulco, at Queen’s and Eastboune and the fourth round at Wimbledon.
“The first match of the year is always a little tough and everyone has nerves going into the first match. I was happy to go out and play the way that I did. I didn’t really do too much wrong and I served well”, said Paul.
Paul set up a second round match against British Next Gen player Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Sonego.
Australian wild card Jason Kubler edged past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 after 2 hours and 10 minutes. The first set went on serve with no break points. Kubler earned two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2 before sealing the second set with his only break in the 11th game.
John Millman came back from one set down to beat Albert Ramos Vinolas 4-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6). Ramos Vinolas earned the first break in the third game to seal the opening set 6-3. Millman broke at the start of the second set to force the match to the decider. Ramos Vinolas broke in the second game of the third set, but Millman pulled back on serve in the third game. Both players traded breaks in the seventh and eighth games to draw level to 4-4. Ramos Viinolas wasted two match points at 6-4 in the tie-break- Millman won the final four points and sealed the win on his first match point.
In another battle decided by a tie-break in the decider Dutch lucky loser Robin Haase rallied from one set down to beat last week’s Pune finalist Benjamin Bonzi 3-6 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-3). Haase won the first set with an early break in the second game. Bonzi earned an early break at the start of the second set, but dropped his serve as he was serving for the set at 5-4. Haase won the tie-break 10-8 forcing the match to the decider. Bonzi earned a break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Haase broke back in the seventh game to draw level to 4-4. Haase earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-3. Swedish qualifier Mikael Ymer battled past Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4 4-6 6-3. Last year’s Sofia Open champion Marc Andrea Huesler recovered from losing the first set to beat Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4. Huesler set up a second round match against Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov.
