LILLE, March 20, 2019

While top-ranked Guillermo Garcia-López of Spain fell in his opening match yesterday, Yannick Maden of Germany and Frenchman Gregoire Barrere, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds of the Play In Challenger Lille, advanced to the third round on Wednesday.

Maden remained untroubled in his match against countryman Dustin Brown. The World No. 108 from Stuttgart saved three of the four break points he faced, capitalizing on four of his own chances to seal victory in only 61 minutes. Maden will next take on No. 16 seeded Belgian Arthur de Greef, who eased past Matteo Viola of Italy 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and four minutes.

Barrere, the defending champion of the €46,600 ATP Challenger hard-court event, beat qualifier Yannick Mertens of Belgium 6-4, 6-1. The 25-year-old Saint Maur des Fosses resident struck 11 aces, winning 96 per cent of his first service points to prevail after exactly one hour of play. Next up for Barrere will be Viktor Troicki. The former World No. 12 from Serbia cruised past Germany’s Daniel Brands 6-1, 6-3 in just 47 minutes.