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Bautista Agut through in three sets

Grigor Dimitrov made an impressive start to his eighth appearance at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Monday, beating eighth seed Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6(3) in Rotterdam.

In his 20th match at the ATP 500 event (13-7), the 2018 runner-up saved all three break points he faced — including a set point at 4-5 in the second set — to advance after 89 minutes. Dimitrov improves to 2-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against Shapovalov, having also defeated the Canadian at the Rogers Cup in 2016.

“Denis is a quality player,” said Dimitrov. “Indoors, he is very dangerous with his serve. A lefty. Very uncomfortable, but, in fact, I like to play against lefties a lot. I was trying to use every little opportunity that I had to make sure I seized those moments.”

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Dimitrov has now won four of his seven matches at tour-level this year. The Bulgarian won two of three matches for his nation at the inaugural ATP Cup, before a second-round loss to Tommy Paul at the Australian Open. Dimitrov arrived in Rotterdam after losing in three sets to Gregoire Barrere in his opening match at last week’s Open Sud de France.

“There was not a lot of rhythm,” said Dimitrov. “There were not too many rallies, but I was able to stay in control,” said Dimitrov. “I was calm in the important moments and came to the net when I had to, so, overall, the things that I had to do right I did very well.”

Dimitrov will face Felix Auger-Aliassime or Jan-Lennard Struff for a spot in the quarter-finals. The 28-year-old lost his only previous ATP Head2Head encounter against Auger-Aliassime at last year’s Fever-Tree Championships and is tied at 2-2 with Struff.

Roberto Bautista Agut’s hopes of a first title in Rotterdam were almost ended in the first round, but the Spaniard survived a second-set tie-break before finishing strongly to beat Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-1.

The World No. 12 recorded his ninth victory in 10 matches this season after two hours and 17 minutes, converting five of eight break points to secure the three-set victory. Bautista Agut is appearing in Rotterdam for the first time since 2016, when he advanced to the quarter-finals at the ATP 500 event for the first time.

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Bautista Agut started the 2020 ATP Tour season in fine form, winning all 12 sets he contested at the inaugural ATP Cup. At the Australian Open, the 31-year-old fell in five sets to 2018 runner-up Marin Cilic in the third round.

Bautista Agut will face countryman Pablo Carreno Busta for a spot in the third round. The 28-year-old needed two hours and 45 minutes to move past Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4.

Bautista Agut leads Carreno Busta 2-1 in their ATP Head2Head series. Each of the pair’s three previous encounters went to decisive final set.

Daniel Evans also advanced to the second round, winning 85 per cent of first-serve points (28/33) to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-5. Evans will face fifth seed Fabio Fognini or Karen Khachanov for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Norwegian to face Cecchinato or Carballes Baena in second round

Casper Ruud made a fast start to his Argentina Open campaign on Monday, beating Pablo Andujar 6-2, 6-3 to reach the second round in Buenos Aires.

The 21-year-old, who is aiming to capture his maiden ATP Tour title this week, struck six aces and broke serve on three occasions to advance after 72 minutes. Ruud reached his maiden tour-level championship match on clay at last year’s Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston and reached two further ATP Tour semi-finals on the surface in 2019 (Sao Paulo, Kitzbühel).

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Ruud improves to 3-3 this season, adding to career-best wins at the ATP Cup. Representing Team Norway in Perth, the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier beat two Top 20 players — Fabio Fognini and John Isner — to open his 2020 ATP Tour season at the innovative team competition.

The eighth seed will meet defending champion Marco Cecchinato or Roberto Carballes Baena for a spot in the quarter-finals. Cecchinato defeated Diego Schwartzman in last year’s championship match to earn his third ATP Tour crown.

Thiago Monteiro booked a second-round clash against fourth seed Borna Coric in the Argentine capital. The 25-year-old Brazilian saved 10 of 11 break points to move past Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-3.