MAIA, November 29, 2022 (by Dietmar Kaspar)
Tuesday’s first-round action at the Maia Open was headlined by the first appearance of hometown hero Nuno Borges. The Maia native faced former World No. 33 Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan on Centre Court. Borges, 25, didn’t face a break point and gained the first of his own five breaks in the fifth game to claim a 6-3, 6-0 victory in 53 minutes.
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“I think Denis didn’t show his best performance today,” said Borges. “He has been an amazing player and I expected big things from him today. I felt like he was a bit tired after his two matches in the qualifying competition. I felt very fresh and used my intensity to make him move a little more and pushed him to the limit. I stayed concentrated and kept being offensive.”
Asked about his relationship with the tournament, the 93rd-ranked Portuguese added: “This is my favourite tournament of the year and I leave it for last. I feel very lucky to play here every year because it is a great opportunity to play at home. If there were three or four more tournaments here I would play them as well.”
Another local player advanced to the next round in the match before on Centre Court. Portuguese wild card entry Goncalo Oliveira eased past Nikola Milojevic from Serbia. The World No. 485, who was born in Porto, earned three breaks and 20 points more to succeed 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 in about two hours. The 27-year-old lefty will meet second seed Jurij Rodionov from Austria in the second round.
Defending champion Blancanaux falls to Fatic
Last year’s Maia Open champion Geoffrey Blancaneaux, seeded No. 4, opposed World No. 239 Nerman Fatic from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Frenchman had a slow start, winning only the first game in the opening set. Twenty-eight-year-old Fatic moved on and converted all of his three break-point chances in the second set and dropped only two service games to prevail 6-1, 6-4 after one hour and 44 minutes.
Mixed results for Italian clay-court specialists
Earlier in the day, two seeded Italians were in action. In a thrilling match, No. 8 seed Riccardo Bonadio fought past Nicolas Alvarez Varona from Spain after two hours and 40 minutes. The 29-year-old scored two points less than his rival but secured a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(7) win. Next up for the World No. 194 will be Belgian qualifier Raphael Collignon, who edged out Portuguese wild card entry Fabio Coelho in straight sets.
Seventh-seeded Italian Luciano Darderi met left-handed Ivan Gakhov. The Russian capitalized on three of his six break-point chances and lost one service game to advance 6-3, 6-4 in 70 minutes. The 29-year-old, ranked World No. 257, will oppose Kazakh No. 6 seed Timofey Skatov, who knocked out Nicholas David Ionel from Romania in three sets.
Play in Maia will continue on Wednesday with the remaining first-round matches as well as the start of the second round. Start will be at 10:30 a.m. local time.
Tuesday Results
Singles – First Round
(1) Nuno Borges (POR) – (Q) Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-3, 6-0
(WC) Goncalo Oliveira (POR) – Nikola Milojevic (SRB) 5-7, 6-3, 6-0
Nerman Fatic (BIH) – (4) Geoffrey Blancaneaux (FRA) 6-1, 6-4
(8) Riccardo Bonadio (ITA) – Nicolas Alvarez Varona (ESP) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(7)
(Q) Raphael Collignon (BEL) – (WC) Fabio Coelho (POR) 6-3, 6-0
(Q) Evgeny Karlovskiy – (Q) Gauthier Onclin (BEL) 6-2, 6-0
Ivan Gakhov – (7) Luciano Darderi (ITA) 6-3, 6-4
(Q) Alexandar Lazarov (BUL) – Alessandro Gianessi (ITA) 6-3, 6-4
(6) Timofey Skatov (KAZ) – Nicholas David Ionel (ROU) 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5
