Austria’s Dominic Thiem defeated qualifier Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag on Monday. Thiem, the 2020 U.S. Open champion, continues his comeback journey after dealing with a wrist injury and other health issues in recent years. Despite his current ranking of No. 112 in the world, Thiem managed to save all six break points he faced and overcome five double faults.
In another match at the tournament, 17-year-old Dino Prizmic, a Croatian wild card, secured his first ATP Tour win by beating Duje Ajdukovic 6-1, 6-2. Prizmic had previously won the boys’ singles title at the French Open last month.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Taro Daniel staged a comeback against Spanish wild card Martin Landaluce, winning 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. Alexei Popyrin of Australia also emerged victorious, defeating Benjamin Bonzi of France 6-4, 7-5.
Moving on to the Hamburg European Open, Serbia’s Laslo Djere caused an upset by defeating No. 6 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the first round. Djere took control of the match by winning five straight points in the first-set tiebreaker and maintained his dominance by winning 75 percent of his first-service points.
In other matches, Daniel Altmaier of Germany defeated France’s Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-4, while Luca Van Assche won a battle of two Frenchmen, topping Alexandre Muller 7-6 (3), 6-4. Argentina’s Guido Pella secured a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.
At the Atlanta Open, Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis made a remarkable comeback from a 4-0 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker to defeat France’s Gael Monfils 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the first round. Kokkinakis won the final four points of the tiebreaker to seal the set, which had no service breaks. In other matches, Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic defeated U.S. wild-card entrant Ethan Quinn 7-6 (5), 6-3, South Africa’s Lloyd Harris rallied past Australia’s James Duckworth 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, and the United States’ J.J. Wolf triumphed over Taiwan’s Jason Jung 6-2, 6-1.
In conclusion, these matches showcased the determination and skill of the players as they competed in various tournaments, striving for victory and making their mark in the world of tennis.
