BASTAD, July 13, 2021
The ATP Tour has returned to Swedish clay and local favourite Elias Ymer began his home campaign at the Nordea Open in Bastad with a hard-fought 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-4 win over Taro Daniel from Japan on Monday.
The 25-year-old wild card entry saved both break points he faced and capitalized on two of his own five break-point chances to secure his first match win at tour level since Bastad in 2019.
“At home the energy is different. You want to give your best and, to be honest, I was close today to getting a win quickly. I was up 6-2, 5-3, serving at 30-0,” Ymer said. “Today was a good day. Tennis is uncertain. He came back, credit to him and it was about the fighting spirit.”
Ymer will next take on either Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen or No. 6 seeded Italian youngster Lorenzo Musetti.
Cecchinato defeats idol Gasquet
Marco Cecchinato overcame a sleep deficit after celebrating Italy’s triumph in the European Football Championships the night before and also went the distance to outlast No. 5 seed Richard Gasquet of France 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. The World No. 82 from Palermo won 56 per cent of the total points played to prevail after two hours and 24 minutes.
“I’m very happy for today because I beat Richard for the first time in my career,” Cecchinato said. “When I was young, he was my idol, so I’m very happy to beat him.
“So many years he was in the Top 10. He was like me with the one-handed backhand, his forehand, good kick, good drop shot.”
‘I went to sleep at 1am’! 🇮🇹
Despite being on court today, Marco Cecchinato wasn’t missing the #Euro2020 final last night 😉#NordeaOpen pic.twitter.com/YMgEh9k0io
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 12, 2021
Cecchinato awaits the winner of the all-Argentine encounter between Federico Coria and qualifier Francisco Cerundolo in the second round.
In other action, Yannick Hanfmann of Germany defeated Thiago Monteiro from Brazil 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 39 minutes to next play either No. 7 seed Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic or Italian Salvatore Caruso.
