BENDIGO/STARNBERG, January 4, 2022
The top two seeds at the Bendigo International fell in the second round on Tuesday. German veteran Matthias Bachinger knocked out World No. 138 and the tournament’s No. 1 seed Nikola Milojevic of Serbia 6-2, 6-1.
The 34-year-old Munich native struck four aces and capitalized on five of his six break-point chances to secure victory in only 59 minutes. Bachinger, who ended last season by finishing runner-up to US-American Maxime Cressy at the second ATP Challenger Tour event in Forli, Italy in late November, is still seeking his first trophy since 2017. The World No. 234 will take on Italian Franco Agamenone in the third round.
In the bottom half of the draw, Vit Kopriva upset 144th-ranked Cem Ilkel of Turkey, No. 2 seed of the $58,320 hard-court tournament in Victoria, Australia. The 24-year-old from the Czech Republic hit five aces, won 89 per cent of his first-service points and saved all three break points he faced. Kopriva prevailed 7-6(4), 6-3 after one hour and 34 minutes.
Kopriva, a winner of five titles on the ITF Pro Circuit, will next face Argentine Facundo Mena, who defeated 14th-seeded Bulgarian Dimitar Kuzmanov 7-6(7), 6-4
Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an
In other action, fourth-seed Frenchman Quentin Halys fought past US-American Michael Mmoh 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 after two hours and 25 minutes and will next play his compatriot Mathias Bourgue. The 27-year-old from Avignon beat No. 13 seed Daniel Masur of Germany 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 36 minutes.
Thomas Fabbiano knocked off sixth favourite Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-4, 6-4. The 32-year-old Italian won 54 per cent of the total points played to succeed after one hour and 23 minutes. Up next for Fabbiano will be No. 10 seed Enzo Couacaud of France, who edged past Argentine Nicolas Kicker 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-4. The encounter lasted two hours and 45 minutes.
