KOBLENZ, January 16, 2019
Top seed Casper Ruud opened his title bid at the €46,600 Koblenz Open on Wednesday afternoon with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over ITF-entry Raul Brancaccio of Italy. The World No. 112 from Norway broke his opponent’s serve three times and won 52 per cent of the total points played to advance in two hours and four minutes.
In the third round of the ATP Challenger 80 event, Ruud will take on No. 14 seed Tallon Griekspoor. The 22-year-old from the Netherlands emerged victorious from a topsy-turvy encounter with Michal Przysiezny of Poland, winning 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.
Second seed Yannick Maden got off to a flying start into the tournament, cruising past Italian lucky loser Riccardo Bonadio 6-2, 6-2. The 29-year-old German saved both break points he faced, capitalizing on four of his own six chances to advance in only 57 minutes. Up next for Maden will be Roberto Ortega-Olmedo of Spain.
Alexey Vatutin, No. 3 seed of the indoor event, recovered from set down to beat Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2. The World No. 175 from Russia outpointed his opponent 100-90 to prevail after two hours and six minutes. Vatutin will next play No. 16 seed Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus, who stopped German qualifier Peter Torebko 7-6(5), 6-3.
Later in the evening, Mikael Ymer won the battle of the young guns with Hungarian teenager Zsombor Piros, who seemed to struggle with physical problems in the final set. The 20-year-old from Sweden, who clinched his maiden title on the ATP Challenger Tour in Nouméa during the first week of the new season, came back from a set down to secure a 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-2 victory in two hours and 36 minutes.
Ymer will be challenged by Roman Safiullin from Russia in the third round. The 21-year-old from Podolsk edged out German veteran Tobias Kamke 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-3. The encounter lasted one hour and 49 minutes.
