STOCKHOLM, October 17, 2018

Tennys Sandgren headlined Tuesday’s first round action at the Intrum Stockholm Open, knocking off No. 5 seed Lucas Pouille of France 6-4, 6-4. The 27-year-old US-American fired 14 aces, winning 90 per cent of his first service points to prevail after one hour and 17 minutes.

Sandgren will next face either German qualifier Oscar Otte or lucky loser Jurgen Zopp from Estonia.

Eighth seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco recovered from 1-4 down in the first set to defeat Matthew Ebden of Australia 6-4, 6-2 in 75 minutes. Verdasco will next meet German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who rebounded from dropping four match points at 5-3 in the second set to advance 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 6-1 against #NextGenATP Australian Alex de Minaur.

Gulbis beats Ymer

Ernests Gulbis

Ernests Gulbis, who battled through the qualifying, beat 20-year-old Swede Mikael Ymer 6-4, 6-3. The World No. 145 from Latvia saved all six break points he faced, converting three of his own to advance in one hour and 49 minutes.

“My serve was okay today, in particular during the important points,” Gulbis said afterwards. “I am happy with the win today. Every win is important, as I want to get back to the top 100 by the end of the year to make the main draw of the Australian Open.” 

Up next for Gulbis will be a player from Canada: either Peter Polansky of Denis Shapovalov.