GENOVA, September 4, 2017

Four qualifiers complete the main draw of the 13th edition of the €127,000 AON Open Challenger – Memorial Giorgio Messina, held on clay at the Centro Tennis di Valletta Cambiaso in Genova from 5 to 10 September.

Andrea Basso rallid past Australian teenager and current junior’s Roland Garros champion Alexei Popyrin 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. The 23-year-old Italian, who was born in Genova, won 80 per cent of his first service points and converted four of his 11 break point chances to prevail after one hour and 48 minutes. Basso will face the tournament’s number two Andreas Seppi in the opening round, who entered the main draw with a wild card.

Tim Puetz of Germany fought past Andrea Vavassori of Italy 6-2, 6-7, 7-5. The 29-year-old Frankfurt native sent down six aces, winning 85 per cent of his first service points to secure victory in two hours and 43 minutes. Puetz will start his main draw campaign against Federio Gaio.

Gianluca Di Nicola and Andrea Pellegrino emerged victorious from two all-Italian-encounters. Di Nicola defeated Walter Trusendi 6-2, 6-3 to meet fourth seed Laslo Djere, and Pellegrino edged past Alessandro Luisi 6-4, 6-3 to take on Matteo Donati in the first round.