GENOVA, September 6, 2017

Top seed Jan-Lennard Struff headlined Wednesday’s first round action at the €127,000 AON Open Challenger – Memorial Giorgio Messina, held at the Centro Tennis di Valletta Cambiaso in Genova. The World No. 49 from Germany beat Miljan Zekic of Serbia 6-4, 7-6.

Struff sent down five aces, winning 81 per cent of his first service points and 54 per cent of the total points played. The Warstein native finished the encounter after one hour and 35 minutes to play Uladzimir Ignatik from Belarus next.

Attila Balazs set a second round clash with fourth seed Laslo Djere. The 28-year-old Hungarian defeated #NextATP player Elias Ymer from Sweden 6-3, 7-6. Balazs won 74 per cent of his first service points and broke serve three times to advance in one hour and 39 minutes.

Third favourite Alessandro Giannessi edged past fellow Italian and wild card entry Julian Ocleppo 7-5, 6-1. The encounter lasted one hour and 12 minutes. Giannessi will next take on Spanish veteran Guillermo Garcia-López.

Aldin Setkic upset the tournament’s number five and last week’s runner-up in Como, Marco Cecchinato, rallying 1-6, 7-6, 6-3. The 29-year-old from Bosnia and Herzegovina won four points less than his opponent but prevailed after two hours and four minutes. Setkic will face #NextGenATP player Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece.