RENNES, January 20, 2020
The European swing on the 2020 ATP Challenger Tour kicked off on Monday with the €46,600 Open Blot Rennes and a couple of familiar faces in action. Jerzy Janowicz celebrated a successful return to the circuit by winning his first round match against Tomas Machac from the Czech Republic 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 6-4.
The former World No. 14 from Poland had been sidelined from the courts since November 2017 due to numerous knee injuries. Janowicz entered the main draw with a wild card, hit 19 aces and broke his opponent’s serve three times to prevail after two hours and 52 minutes.
Up next for the six-time ATP Challenger champion will be No. 10 seeded Frenchman Constant Lestienne.
Earlier in the day, Mischa Zverev opened his season with a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win over Batptiste Crepatte from France. The 32-year-old German was in total control of the encounter, saved all four break points he faced and converted six of his own 15 break point chances to advance in only 51 minutes. Zverev will probably face a tougher task by taking on sixth seeded Russian Alexey Vatutin next.
🎾 #OBR20 🎾 #Résultat 1er tour/First Round
🇩🇪 M. #Zverev defeat 🇫🇷 B. Crepatte 6/0 6/1Expéditif ! Grand favori dans son premier tour, le frère d’ @AlexZverev a fait très vite. Il rencontrera Alexey #Vatutin pour une place en 8ème.#Atpchallenger @TennisActu pic.twitter.com/pVVJ9RWMm0
— Open Blot Rennes (@OpenBlotRennes) January 20, 2020
Nino Serdarusic emerged victorious from his match against local favourite Maxime Hamou to set a second-round clash against top seed Sergiy Stakhovsky from the Ukraine on Wednesday. The 23-year-old from Croatia fired 13 aces and won 83 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after one hour and 31 minutes.
In his first match on the ATP Challenger Tour, wild card entry Kyrian Jacquet celebrated his first win. The 18-year-old Frenchman, currently ranked World No. 622, rallied past Altug Celikbilek of Turkey 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. Jacquet won 53 per cent of the total points played to secure victory in one hour and 29 minutes. The teenager will next challenge compatriot and No. 11 seed Alexandre Muller.
