SZCZECIN, September 12, 2017

Local favourite Jerzy Janowicz advanced to the second round on a rain interrupted Tuesday evening at the €127,000 Szczecin Open. The sixth seed from Poland defeated Argentine qualifier Guillermo Duran 6-4, 6-1.

Janowicz didn’t face a break point and capitalized on four of his own chances to finish the encounter after one hour and seven minutes.

“I was simply the better player today,” Janowicz told about the match. The 26-year-old Lodz native will next face Kenny de Schepper from France.

In-form Jurgen Zopp, who captured the ATP Challenger title in Alphen aan den Rijn last Sunday, upset the tournament’s number seven and #NextGenATP player Casper Ruud. The 29-year-old from Estonia won 79 per cent of his first service points and 51 per cent of the total points played to secure a 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 victory in two hours and 11 minutes. Next up for Zopp will be Yannick Maden of Germany.

Two seeded players from Italy fell in the opening round. Fifth favourite Marco Cecchinato lost to Inigo Cervantes of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 4-6. The tournament’s number three, Alessandro Giannessi, was defeated by Ukrainian qualifier Artem Smirnov 7-6, 6-1.