MAIA, November 28, 2023 (by Dietmar Kaspar)

First-round action at Maia Open continued on Tuesday. Local players Henrique Rocha and Nuno Borges delighted their home crowd by winning their opening matches.

Rocha beats Giannessi

Portuguese youngster Rocha opened Center Court action against World No. 206 Alessandro Giannessi from Italy. The Porto native stayed solid on serve during the whole match, won 77 per cent of his first-service points and struck 12 aces. After two hours and 24 minutes, the 19-year-old prevailed 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 against the 33-year-old leftie, who was ranked ATP No. 84 as a career high.

Henrique Rocha follows the footsteps of his older brother, defeating Alessandro Giannessi 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 to reach the #MaiaOpen @ATPChallenger R2 for the first time.

This is the club where he spent countless hours hitting the fuzzy yellow ball before moving to Lisbon. pic.twitter.com/TTWCu1Fd3R

— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) November 28, 2023

“It was very nice to play at home. I did a great job today and I am very happy about the win. I actually like to play against left-handed players, because my cross-forehand matches a lot with their backhands,” the World No. 255 said.

Asked about his progress, starting the season at position 850 in the ATP Rankings, Rocha added: “A lot of things changed in my tennis. In technical way, I improved all my strokes like service, forehand and backhand. But the most progress was in mental way, staying more calm and going point by point.”

Borges battles past Safwat

Maia born Borges opened his title bid against Mohamed Safwat from Egypt. The top seed of the ATP Challenger Tour 100 tournament gained the only break in the match to seal a hard-fought win by the score of 6-4, 7-6 (5) in two hours. In the round of the last 16, the 26-year-old World No. 78 will oppose Enrico Dalla Valle from Italy.

Born and raised in Maia, Portuguese No. 1 @nunoborges97 returns to his hometown as the #MaiaOpen @ATPChallenger 100 top seed and defeats Mohamed Safwat 6-4, 7-(5) to join his good friends Francisco Rocha, Henrique Rocha and Jaime Faria in the second round. João Sousa up next. pic.twitter.com/SEzswiFhQV

— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) November 28, 2023

“A first round is never easy and my opponent competed really well. Maybe my expectations for the match were a little bit too high, because I came from a lot of hard-court matches and compared how good I played here in the last years. But I am in a good shape and mentally available, so I think my tennis can come to play my best level this week with good performances,” the former college player Borges told Tennis TourTalk.

Matusevich stuns Hemery

Qualifier Anton Matusevich continued his fine run of form by reaching the second round. The 22-year-old Briton faced French No. 7 seed Calvin Hemery. After a slow start, the World No. 494 took control of the match to advance 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 after two hours and 11 minutes. Next up for the New York-born will be Henrique Rocha.

“I felt pretty good on the court and played well. The matches from the qualifying helped me a lot to get a feeling for the court. The pressure was on my higher ranked opponent, so I tried to play my game and it worked out,” Matusevich stated after the match.

Ramos-vinolas stays solid

Second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas took on Jozef Kovalik from Slovakia in his opener. The 35-year-old Spaniard did not drop a service game and capitalized on two of his three break-point chances to succeed 6-4, 6-3 in 79 minutes. The World No. 92 from Barcelona will meet Joao Sousa from Portugal, who edged out Filip Cristian Jianu of Romania, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

TUESDAY RESULTS

First Round – Singles

Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) – Jozef Kovalik (SKV) 6-4, 6-3

Joao Sousa (POR) – Filip Cristian Jianu (ROU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

Nuno Borges (POR) – Mohamed Safwat (EGY) 6-4, 7-6 (5)

Karl Friberg (SWE) – Sebastian Fanselow (GER) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Elias Ymer (SWE) – Marco Trungelliti (ARG) 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4

Jaime Faria (POR) – Pedro Araujo (POR) 6-2, 6-3

Henrique Rocha (POR) – Alessandro Gianessi (ITA) 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2

Anton Matusevich (GBR) – Calvin Hemery (FRA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

Andrea Vavassori (ITA) – Alexey Vatutin 6-1, 7-6 (6)

Maxime Janvier (FRA) – Andrea Guerrieri (ITA) 6-3, 6-2