GUIA DE ISORA/STARNBERG, February 20, 2024

The ATP Challenger Tour is back on the Canary Islands this week with the Tenerife Challenger 2 being held at the Abama Tennis Academy in Guía de Isora, a charming municipality nestled on the western coast of Tenerife.

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Jesper de Jong, No. 2 seed of the €74,825 hard-court event overcame a slow start in his first-round match to outlast Danish qualifier August Holmgren 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday afternoon. The 23-year-old Dutchman won eight points less than his opponent but secured victory in two hours and 26 minutes.

“I have to be honest, I didn’t play well,” de Jong said afterwards. “I’m not happy with my level, but that confirms that I’m a tough player to beat even on days like these. In this tournament, anyone can win, and Holmgren’s performance shows that you are very competitive when you come from the qualifying.”

De Jong’s 2024 season started with qualifying for the Australian Open, reaching the second round where he was stopped by eventual champion Jannik Sinner. “I’m happy with what I did in Melbourne, but I don’t think I played my best tennis. Did the result give me confidence? It’s hard to answer. On one hand, it didn’t change much, but it’s good to have confirmation that I can achieve good results. The match with Sinner was a lot of fun. He’s a great player and also a very kind person off the court.”

The World No. 143 will next take on Italian lucky loser Salvatore Caruso, who also needed to go the distance beating US-American alternate Mitchell Krueger, 6-4,4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 50 minutes.

TUESDAY RESULTS

Singles – First Round

Dennis Novak def. Alexis Galarneau 3-6 7-5 6-4

Raul Brancaccio (Q) def. Lukas Neumayer 3-6 6-3 7-5

Alejandro Moro Canas def. Pablo Llamas Ruiz (3) 7-5 5-7 6-1

Matteo Gigante (5) def. Alessandro Giannessi 6-2 6-3

Adrian Andreev (Q) def. Giovanni Fonio (Q) 4-6 6-3 7-5

Salvatore Caruso (LL) def. Mitchell Krueger (Alt) 6-4 4-6 7-5

Jesper de Jong (2) def. August Holmgren (Q) 2-6 6-4 6-3