VILLENA, April 3, 2018

Top seed Roberto Carballés Baena opened his title bid at the inaugural €43,000 Ferrero Challenger Open at the Equelite Sport Academy in Villena on Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Noah Rubin from the United States.

The World No. 81 from Spain converted three of his four break point opportunities to advance in one hour and 15 minutes. Carballés Baena will next take on Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy.

The tournament’s No. 2 Marco Cecchinato also advanced to the second round. The 25-year-old from Italy eased past his compatriot and lucky loser Federico Gaio 6-3, 6-4. Cecchinato sent down five aces, winning 86 per cent of his first service points to finish the encounter in only 63 minutes.

Guido Andreozzi won the re-match of last Saturday’s final at the Casino Admiral Trophy 7-6, 6-4 against No. 3 seed Stefano Travaglia of Italy. The runner-up from the ATP Challenger event in Marbella outpointed his opponent 72-66 to secure victory in one hour and 37 minutes. Next up for Andreozzi will be Canadian #NextGenATP star Félix Auger-Aliassime.