POZOBLANCO, July 20, 2021
Top seed Benjamin Bonzi began his quest for a third ATP Challenger title of the season by moving past Aziz Dougaz from Tunisia 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the €44,820 Open Ciudad de Pozoblanco on Tuesday evening.
Under the lights on Centre Court ‘Pista Fabián Doradoof’ at the C.D. Open de Tenis Ciudad de Pozoblanco, the World No. 111 from France sent down six aces and won 69 per cent of his first-service points to seal victory in one hour and 48 minutes.
Bonzi enjoyed a pretty successful grass-court season by reaching the semi-finals of the Nottingham Challenger as well as the second round at Wimbledon and already captured two titles on the ATP Challenger Tour this season. The 25-year-old Nimes native lifted the trophies in Potchefstroom, South Africa in February as well as at the Ostrava Open in the Czech Republic in early May.
Bonzi will next take on Michael Geerts. The 26-year-old Belgian qualifier eased past Kaichi Uchida of Japan 6-1, 6-2 in just under one hour of play.
🎾 ¡Tarde de tenis!
Ya vivimos al máximo la jornada de este martes en el Open Ciudad de Pozoblanco ‘Covap’ – Memorial Fabián Dorado.
Y lo hacemos disfrutando en la Pista Fabián Dorado de un disputado partido entre Tim Van Rijhove y Roberto Ortega. #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/o3TFiubalz
— Open Ciudad de Pozoblanco (@PozoblancoOpen) July 20, 2021
Meanwhile on Court 2, Emilio Nava recorded his only second main draw match win at Challenger level. The 19-year-old US-American, who trains at the JC Ferrero Equelite Sport Academy in Alicante, knocked out No. 7 seeded German Yannick Maden 6-1, 7-6(5) in one hour and 20 minutes. Nava will next face Matteo Viola. The Italian beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-1, 6-3.
In the bottom half of the draw, No. 2 seed Gregoire Barrere opened his title bid in Andalusia with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win over fellow Frenchman Rayane Roumane on Monday. Up next for the World No. 135 from Boulogne-Billancourt will be Bulgarian youngster Adrian Andreev. The 20-year-old Sofia native cruised past Spanish teenager Blas Ruiz Romero, who entered the main draw with a wild card, 6-0, 6-0 in 44 minutes.
