LILLE, March 19, 2019

The ATP Challenger Tour has returned to France this week for the second edition of the Play In Challenger Lille held at the Tennis Club Lillois Lille Metropole, the oldest and most significant tennis club in Lille. Top seed of the €46,600 hard-court event is Spanish veteran and World No. 112 Guillermo Garcia-López, who lost after a first round bye to Adam Pavlasek from the Czech Republic 7-5, 7-6(6) on Tuesday evening.

Pavlasek capitalized on three of his five break point chances to prevail after one hour and 45 minutes. Next up for the 24-year-old from Bilovec will be No. 15 seeded Austrian Sebastian Ofner.

Earlier in the day, Yannick Hanfmann made his comeback to the tour. The 27-year-old German, who had been sidelined from the courts since last year’s US Open due to an elbow injury, met former compatriot and now British tennis player Jan Choinski. Choinski dominated the encounter, winning 56 per cent of the total points played to seal a 6-0, 6-4 victory in one hour and 16 minutes.

The point of the match, however, was Hanfmann’s answer to a Choinski return:

Hanfmann ( info – @TipstersClubCom, @sport_thies ) (🎥@ATPChallenger) pic.twitter.com/eoPLN9PUD9

— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) 19. März 2019

Choinski will next take on 18-year-old wild card entry Rayane Roumane, who emerged victorious from the all-French-encounter with No. 8 seed Antoine Hoang, winning 7-6(4), 6-3. Roumane secured his first main draw match win at ATP Challenger level after one hour and 21 minutes.

Home hope Gregoire Barrere looks to go back-to-back after clinching the title in last year’s inaugural edition. The third seeded Frenchman will step into action on Wednesday taking on Belgian qualifier Yannick Mertens.