Top-seeded Andrey Rublev needed just over an hour Wednesday to win his opening match in the San Diego Open.
The Russian, who received a first-round bye, routed the United States’ Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-1 in a 63-minute, second-round match.
Rublev, who won an event at Rotterdam, Netherlands, in March, has since reached three finals and lost them all. His next opponent will be sixth-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, who beat South Africa’s Lloyd Harris 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Fifth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and eighth-seeded Daniel Evans of Great Britain each prevailed in first-set tiebreakers en route to first-round wins Wednesday. Hurkacz topped Australia’s Alex Bolt 7-6 (2), 6-1, and Evans edged South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-6 (11), 7-5. Anderson failed to take advantage of three set points in the tiebreaker.
Sofia Open
Italy’s Gianluca Mager became the first player to reach the second round in Sofia, Bulgaria, defeating Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Mager faced just two break points in the match and saved one. Kecmanovic could stave off just six of nine break points.
Australia’s James Duckworth rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori. Duckworth took advantage of the lone set point of the final set to grab a 5-4 lead, then served out the match.
Fifth-seeded Filip Krajinovic of Serbia, Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak, Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko and Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka earned first-round victories.
–Field Level Media