Alejandro Davidovich said goodbye to the Montpellier tournament after losing in the first round match with Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who will face Belgian David Goffin, the eighth seed, in the second round.
Davidovich failed to get his second win of the season. After losing his debut at the Sydney tournament, he beat Australian Alex Bolt in the opening leg of the Australian Open but was later eliminated by Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime.
He had no chance against Mannarino who won 6-2, 6-4 in 68 minutes. The Frenchman, winner in Hertogenbosch in 2019, will face Belgian David Goffin, current champion of the tournament, in the second round.
What’s more, the tournament included the classification of the local Richard Gasquet in the French duel against Ugo Humbert, seventh seeded, by 6-7(3), 6-4 and 6-3. Gasquet, three-time champion of this tournament (2013, 2015 and 2016) and as many finalists, will play against the Korean Soonwoo Kwon in the second round.
Meanwhile, the American Mackenzie McDonald became the first rival of the first favorite, the German Alexander Zverev, after beating the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka 6-3 and 7-6(2).
Bautista advances for Simon’s withdrawal
Roberto Bautista from Castellón, second favourite, reached the quarterfinals of the Montpellier tournament after eliminating Frenchman Gilles Simon, which he left when his rival was winning 6-4 and 3-2 after one hour and 22 minutes of play.
Simon left the match due to physical discomfort after finishing the fifth game of the second set. The Frenchman, with the score against after giving up the first set, broke from the start in the second and served to make it 3-1. But the Spaniard recovered the serve and closed the gap. So, Simon chose to leave.
Roberto Bautista, finalist in Montpellier last year, achieved his third victory in the circuit and the seventh so far this year. To the two he got at the Australian Open are added the four he got at the ATP Cup.
The Spanish, nineteenth in the ranking, has not won a title since he won Doha in 2019, where he was also a finalist last year, as well as in Montpellier.
Bautista will play in the quarterfinals against the Kazakh Alexander Bublik, sixth seed, who eliminated Frenchman Pierre Hugues Herbert 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2.
The Serbian Filip Krajinovic, fifth favorite, who cut the aspirations of Jo Wilfried Tsonga, winner in 2019, was also placed in the quarterfinals. who reappeared in this tournament after months of absence from the tournaments. The Balkan won 6-4 and 7-6(2) and will seek the semifinals against the winner of the match between the Bosnian Damir Dzumhur and the Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Jaume Munar does not complete the comeback and falls to Galán
Jaume Munar halfway left the comeback against the Colombian Daniel Elahi Galán who beat the Spanish in three sets (6-2, 3-6 and 6-1) to advance to the second round of the Cordoba tournament, in Argentina.
In the first duel between the two on the circuit, the 25-year-old tennis player from Bucaramanga reacted to the good play of the Majorcan tennis player, better placed than the Colombian in the ranking and that last year, in Marbella, he played his first final.
Munar fell in the final round and Galán closed the match after two hours to meet in the second round with the winner of the clash between the Argentine Diego Schwartzman, top seed, and Juan Pablo Ficovich.