On Monday afternoon, Italian Fabio Fognini, the 6th seed of the tournament, was defeated in 3 sets (4/6 6/3 6/3) by an American qualifier, Donald Young. Therefore, he has already left the azure clay court.
In the rest of the day, logic was mostly respected and no other upsets occurred.
Portuguese player Joao Sousa, the 5th seed of the tournament, prevailed in a hard-fought 3-set match (5/7 6/4 6/4) against the young Frenchman, promising Quentin Halys.
Another young player on the courts Monday afternoon was the future global tennis star, Alexander Zverev. Facing the English qualifier Kyle Edmund, the German benefited from his opponent’s withdrawal to reach the round of 16.
Qualifying entrant Diego Schwartzman won 2 sets to 0 (7/6 6/1) in a one-sided match against clay court specialist Fernando Verdasco, who had won in Bucharest last month. The Argentine will face the tournament’s 3rd seed, South African Kevin Anderson, in the next round.
In the other matches of the day, American Fritz secured a 2-set victory against Ukrainian Marchenko (7/6 6/4). Meanwhile, Argentine Guido Pella won 2 sets to 1 against Russian Medvedev (6/1 6/7 7/6).
This Tuesday, May 17, the last 4 matches of the first round will be played. A French player is involved, Paul Henri Mathieu, who will be up against the Korean Chung. Four round of 16 matches will also take place on Tuesday. Notably, the all-French duel between Benoit Paire (4) and Adrian Mannarino will be worth watching.
