There were a few shocks in Dallas on Tuesday, with Marinko Matosevic arguably causing the biggest as he beat fifth seed Radu Albot 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
The Australian, attempting to make his way back from a long-term injury, survived a late comeback bid from the Moldovan to win his first main draw match at any level this season. It is an encouraging result for the former World No. 39 player, as he had lost to players ranked outside the top 100 in qualifying events before making the main draw of Dallas.
Grega Zemlja earned a hard-f0ught 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 win over Jason Jung. The Slovenian, though aided by an incredible thirty-three aces, still had to dig himself out of a hole when Jung earned the right to serve for the match at five-four in the tiebreak. Zemlja survived though, winning the next three points, and fittingly won the match on an ace.
Another upset was the in-form Mikhail Vaks win over American Connor Smith. Vaks, who is currently ranked outside the top 1000 and with a career-high ranking of 567, defeated Smith 6-4, 6-2. Vaks is in form having dispatched Nicolas Barrientos in qualifying to reach the main draw.
It was a day to forget for most of the American contingent, as Clay Thompson, Eric Quigley, Dennis Novikov, and Sekou Bangoura all joined Smith in departing. Only Ernesto Escobedo won on Tuesday and that in the all American clash against Thompson. Quigley was beaten 7-6, 6-3 by John-Patrick Smith, Novikov was beaten 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 by James McGee, and Bangoura lost to Briton Kyle Edmund 7-6, 6-2.
Nicolas Barrientos, though the beneficiary of a lucky loser entry to the tournament, could not take advantage of his good fortune, going down to Marco Trungelliti 6-3, 7-6. Henri Laaksonen joined Trungelliti in the second round by beating alternate Marek Michalicka 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and twelve minutes.
(At the time of writing the final first round match between Sam Groth and Frances Tiafoe had yet to be completed).
Wednesday highlights and picks (in bold):
Ryan Harrison vs Tim Smyczek: These two have already met four times on tour in their careers, and Smyczek leads the head-to-head 3-1. Smyczek negotiated a potentially tricky encounter against Mitchell Krueger in the first round, while Harrison looked distinctly unconvincing against Alex Kuznetsov, failing to serve the match out twice before finally breaking in the last game.
Dan Evans vs Bjorn Fratangelo: Evans owns a commanding 3-0 lead in this head-to-head though Fratangelo did grab a set for the first time in their most recent meeting at the Australian Open Qualifying event in January. Both had impressive first-round wins against Andrey Rublev and Jared Donaldson respectively, but Evans has been in more consistent form and the head-to-head builds a strong case for the Briton.
Benjamin Becker vs Ernesto Escobedo: Perhaps the biggest test of the young American’s fledgling career, the veteran German Becker will prove a tough test for Escobedo. Watch this match because this teenager is talented but all the same Becker is likely to prove just a step too far at this stage.
