Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and Lorenzo Sonego managed to seal their place in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters, the Masters 1,000 in Paris, after overcoming their commitments to Aljaz Bedene, Daniel Evans and Alexandr Bublik respectively without too much trouble.
Raonic, tenth seed, beat Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia 6-3 and 6-2 in just over an hour. The serve of the Canadian gunner (18 aces and 86% of points won in the first service) were decisive for a Raonic who did not grant his rival break options either. The Canadian will now face the winner of the match between Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Tennys Sandgren in the second round.
Another of the favorites that did not fail was the Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who beat Briton Daniel Evans in straight sets 6-3 7-6 (3). The Swiss, twelfth seed, took the lead in the first heat, although in the second set Evans managed to hold out until the tie-break, where Wawrinka was more effective. 'Stan The Man' will now face the winner of the match between Gilles Simon and Tommy Paul in the second round.
For its part, Lorenzo Sonego he prolongs the hot streak that started at the recent Vienna tournament, where only Andrey Rublev beat him in the final. The Italian beat Alexandr Bublik by a wide margin, by a score of 6-1, 6-4 in 60 minutes of play. With this positive inertia it will be measured with the Australian Alex de Miñaur in the next round.
South African Kevin Anderson, who was winning 5-2 in the first set over Serbian Laslo Djere when he retired, also passed to the second round. In this way Anderson manages to pass to the next phase of the tournament, where one of the 'coconuts' will wait for him: Russian Daniil Medvedev, third favorite for the title.
The first big surprise of the tournament came in the form of elimination by David Goffin, number 14 in the world. The Belgian fell to him semi-unknown Norbert Gombos (No. 104 ATP), who beat him in two sets 6-4 and 7-6 (6), a dramatic outcome in the final tiebreak.
The second surprise, this capital letter, it was the defeat of Stefanos Tsitsipas, second seed in Paris only behind Rafa Nadal. The Greek, who had just been a semi-finalist at Roland Garros, he fell for the third time in four years in the second round of the tournament. His executioner was Ugo Humbert, who beat Tsitsipas by 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6) and 7-6 (3) in more than three agonizing hours of meeting. Three tie breaks in three sets, in a match marked by equality and in which Tsitsipas tried to survive at all costs. He tried it in the second set, where he saved three match points. But his luck had run out in the third set. Humbert was very mature in the final moments, and the Greek says goodbye to the event to focus on defending his title in London.
The third and final unexpected result of the day was the American Marcos Giron's second-round victory over Matteo Berrettini, the seventh seed of the tournament. In a match of almost three hours that lasted until practically one in the Parisian morning, the world number 91 beat the Italian in another tight match that was resolved by 7-6 (3), 6-7 (0) and 7-5. Berrettini's reaction seemed to come in the tie break of the second set, but the effect was diluted in the final heat when he served to force a new tiebreaker and the American he broke serve for only the second time in the game to seal the victory.
Results of the first round matches of the 1,000 Masters in Paris.