One of the United States best hopes for the future of American tennis got his 2016 campaign off to the best possible start. Taylor Fritz defeated Australian wildcard Marc Polmans 6-2, 6-2.
Fritz dominated the match from start to finish, and despite struggling to put his first serve in play in set one, lost only nine points on serve in the match. Four of those points were grouped together, as he lost a service game in set two, but those were the only points he dropped on serve in the entire set. He compensated by breaking Polmans three times.
Fritz will now play the winner of compatriot Alexander Sarkissian and German Peter Gojowczyk. There was more god news for Fritz as his seeded opponent for the quarter-finals Alejandro Gonzalez, was knocked out in round one. Gonzalez was beaten in straight sets by Alex Bolt a wildcard at this event, though he has been ranked as high as No. 160.
Renzo Olivo was another South American seed to depart in early play, as he lost to Austrian Dennis Novak in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6. Bradley Mousley ensured that two local wildcards would at least progress from round one, as he defeated Laslo Djere 7-5, 7-5.
Tuesday sees a number of players start their 2016 seasons. Top seed Dudi Sela plays Uladzimir Ignatik, Francis Tiafoe plays qualifier Peter Polansky, and Dan Evans starts against Dwayne Kelly. Second seed Bjorn Fratangelo faces local Andrew Whittington, Brydan Klein faces former Top 100 player Andrey Golubev, and Igor Sijsling faces Hiroki Moriya.
