The only Frenchman, in this case the young Gianni Mina, managed to make it into the “main draw” where he will face the dangerous Bernard Tomic, the 5th seed. Sam Groth, Ruben Bemelmans, and Michael Venus also made it through the qualifiers.
In his first participation in the main draw of an ATP 250 tournament, 19-year-old Maxime Hamou could not achieve the upset against the clay-courter Pablo Carreno Busta, a recent semi-finalist in Estoril.
As for his elder, Benoît Paire, he was defeated by an excellent Juan Monaco who proved to be more determined and focused during the entire match.
To note tomorrow is the entrance of Americans Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson, who will have to battle against qualifiers to join their compatriot John Isner in the second round.
The younger generation will also be represented this Monday by Croatian prodigy Borna Coric, who was invited last year and is already ranked 55th in the ATP. Talented at a young age, Borna has recorded prestigious victories against Nadal in Basel in 2014 and more recently against Murray in Dubai, but he will need to take his first-round match seriously against the powerful Australian qualifier Sam Groth.
Young Austrian Dominic Thiem, another rising star, will face Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos in a much-anticipated duel.
Today’s Schedule
CENTRAL COURT starting at 11 am
S. Johnson (USA) vs [Q] M. Venus (NZL)
S. Querrey (USA) vs [Q] R. Bemelmans (BEL)
B. Coric (CRO) vs [Q] S. Groth (AUS)
V. Estrella Burgos (DOM) vs D. Thiem (AUT)
COURT 1 starting at noon
M. Emmrich (GER) / A. Siljestrom (SWE) vs F. Martin (FRA) / P. Raja (IND)
C. Fleming (GBR) / J. Marray (GBR) vs [2] D. Nestor (CAN) / A. Peya (AUT)
[1] J. Rojer (NED) / H. Tecau (ROU) vs S. Johnson (USA) / S. Querrey (USA)
Not before 5 pm
[WC] B. Paire (FRA) / L. Pouille (FRA) vs C. Guccione (AUS) / A. Sa (BRA)
