FLORENCE, September 25, 2019

Alessandro Giannessi remained untroubled in his second-round match against French qualifier Jules Okala on Wednesday at the Firenze Tennis Cup Trofeo Toscana Aeroporti. The No. 16 seed from Italy capitalized on six of his 12 break point chances to secure a 6-3, 6-0 victory in one hour and eight minutes.

“Okala is an interesting guy, with very aggressive tennis,” Giannessi said. “He hits the balls very fast but the longer the match lasted, the better I felt on court.”

Giannessi, who lifted his first trophy of the season in Vicenza in May, will next take on Philipp Kohlschreiber, the top seed of the €46,600 clay-court event, in the third round. The World No. 80 from Germany, who is playing his third ATP Challenger event in a row, opened his title bid with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Gianluigi Quinzi of Italy. The encounter lasted 62 minutes.

No. 2 seed Martin Klizan was forced to retire in his match against Mario Vilella Martinez of Spain. The 30-year-old from Slovakia was leading 7-6(3), 3-6, 1-0 when he had to stop playing due to a foot injury. Vilella Martinez will next face another Slovakian in person of Filip Horansky.