MOUILLERON-LE-CAPTIF, October 5, 2021
Two veterans of the Pro Circuit met in Tuesday’s first-round of the €66,640 Open de Vendée ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Mouilleron-Le-Captif, France.
In a duel between two 37-year-olds, No. 4 seed Andreas Seppi of Italy, a winner of three ATP Tour titles, defeated Fernando Verdasco from Spain, who lifted seven tour-level trophies, 7-5, 6-1.
Seppi sent down five aces and won 82 per cent of his first-service points to seal victory in one hour and 18 minutes. The World No. 93 from Bolzano celebrated his third win over Verdasco in the pair’s 11th match. Seppi will next take on #NextGenATP Czech Tomas Machac.
Bonzi falls, Vesely advances
Later in the day, German qualifier Mats Rosenkranz upset the tournament’s top seed and six-time Challenger titlist this season Benjamin Bonzi of France 7-6(4), 6-4. The World No. 487 fired 18 aces and won 53 per cent of the total points played to advance after one hour and 19 minutes. Rosenkranz will next face Kamil Majchrzak from Poland, who edged past Russian qualifier Evgeny Karlovskiy 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3.
1er TOUR 🔥
Sensation à l’Open de Vendée ⚡️
La tête de série numéro 1, Benjamin Bonzi, s’arrête là ❌
Le Français a été surpris par le jeune Mats Ronsenkranz 🇩🇪
7️⃣ 6️⃣
6️⃣ 4️⃣Issu des qualifications, l’Allemand rejoint le 2nd tour ☄️#ODV2021 #OpenDeVendée #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/IUmEBUgoFR
— Open de Vendée (@OpenVendee) October 5, 2021
Second seed Jiri Vesely rallied from a set down to overcome Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The World No. 84 from the Czech Republic broke his opponent’s serve three times to prevail after one hour and 59 minutes. Vesely will next play French wild card entry Harold Mayot, who beat his compatriot Antoine Hoang 7-6(4), 6-3. The encounter lasted one hour and 35 minutes.
In other action, Elias Ymer from Sweden, a two-time Open de Vendée champion (2017 and 2018), knocked off Frenchman Lucas Pouille for the first time in the pair’s third meeting within the last month. The 25-year-old from Stockholm won 6-2, 7-6(2) in one hour and 16 minutes and awaits the winner of the match between No. 3 seed Peter Gojowczyk from Germany and Austria’s Dennis Novak.
1er TOUR 🔥
Double vainqueur de l’Open de Vendée, Elias Ymer, affrontait Lucas Pouille sur le central du Vendéspace💥
Victoire du Suédois en 2 sets 💫
6️⃣ 7️⃣
2️⃣ 6️⃣Direction le 2nd tour pour @eliasymer 🇸🇪
📸 Rémy Chautard#ODV2021 #OpenDeVendée #Tennis #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/IRNzxKAgZC
— Open de Vendée (@OpenVendee) October 5, 2021
