HOUSTON, April 10, 2019

Sam Querrey opened his title bid at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship on Tuesday with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over fellow US-American Bjorn Fratangelo. The No. 8 seed from Las Vegas struck 13 aces, winning 90 per cent of his first service points to advance to the second round in Houston after 66 minutes.

Querrey will next take on Spanish veteran Guillermo Garcia-López, who rallied past Noah Rubin from the United States 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3. The encounter lasted two hours and 26 minutes.

And today’s forehand masterclass is brought to you by Mr @SamQuerrey 👀#USClay pic.twitter.com/BJ6qQsKzQ3

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 9. April 2019

Daniel Elahi Galan picked up his second match win on the ATP Tour to set up a second round clash with top seed and two-time defending champion Steve Johnson from the United States. The 22-year-old qualifier from Colombia defeated Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 7-6(5), 6-4 in exactly two hours of play. Elahi Galan secured his maiden ATP match win four years ago on home soil in Bogota against Pere Riba from Spain.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Singles First Round
[Q] Henri Laaksonen (Switzerland) d. [6] Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 6-4
[7] Jordan Thompson (Australia) d. [Q] Pedja Krstin (Serbia) 7-5 6-2
[8] Sam Querrey (USA) d. [WC] Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) 6-3 6-4
[Q] Santiago Giraldo (Colombia) d. Bradley Klahn (USA) 6-4 6-4
[Q] Daniel Elahi Galan (Colombia) d. Paolo Lorenzi (Italy) 7-6(5) 6-4
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) d. [WC] Noah Rubin (USA) 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3
[WC] Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) d. Tennys Sandgren (USA) 6-1 7-6(4)

Doubles First Round
Taylor Fritz (USA) & Reilly Opelka (USA) d. [3] Luke Bambridge (GBR) & Jonny O’Mara (GBR) 6-3 6-4
Jeremy Chardy (France) & Fabrice Martin (France) d. Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) & Hugo Dellien (Bolivia) 7-5 6-3
Ryan Harrison (USA) & Mackenzie McDonald (USA) d. Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) & Jamie Cerretani (USA) 4-6 6-4 10-2