COMO, August 30, 2016
The top seeds of the €42,500 Torneo Città di Como headlined first round action at the local Tennis Club on Tuesday. The tournament’s number one Gerald Melzer eased past Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 6-1.
The only top 100 player at the lone ATP Challenger event held on European soil this week, lost his serve once but broke the Italian wild card five times to advance in 64 minutes. Melzer will next play Andrea Arnaboldi, who defeated Argentine qualifier Pedro Cachin 6-4, 6-4.
Adrian Ungur knocked out second seed Roberto Carballés-Baena, winning 7-5, 7-6. The world number 103 from Spain was a break up in the opening set but Ungur fought back, converted seven of his 11 break point chances to prevail in one hour and 58 minutes. The 31-year-old from Romania will next take on Filip Krajinovic. The world number 157 from Serbia edged past Italian teenager Andrea Pellegrino 6-4, 6-3 in 79 minutes.
Como’s number four also fell in the opening round, as Andrey Rublev rallied against Andrej Martin to celebrate a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. The NextGen star from Russia won 85 of the total 168 points played to finish the encounter after two hours and two minutes. Next up for Rublev is Kenny de Schepper from France.
Fifth favourite Marco Trungelliti fought past Gianlugi Quinzi, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. The 26-year-old from Argentina won 60% of his first service points to book a place in the second round after two hours and six minutes. He will collide with countryman Andrea Collarini, who beat Dennis Novak 7-5, 6-1.
Manerbio champion and the tournament’s number six Leonardo Mayer continued his winning streak with a 6-2, 7-6 victory over Pedro Sousa. Mayer will take on the in-form German Maximilian Marterer next. Two weeks ago, the 21-year-old appeared in his maiden final on the ATP Challenger Tour, when he finished up runner-up to Florian Mayer in Meerbusch.
In the final match of the day, Mikael Ymer continued his great run at his comeback tournament with a 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over fellow qualifier Daniel Petrovic from Serbia. The Swedish teenager had been sidelined from the courts for nine months and claimed three victories to appear in the main draw in Como. The encounter lasted two hours and three minutes. Ymer will continue his journey in the second round against Marco Cecchinato. The eighth seed needed exactly the same match time to emerge victorious from the all-Italian-clash with Filippo Volandri, winning 6-2, 6-7, 6-3.
