ATP Barcelona: Fritz, McDonald, Fucsovics and Mayer reach round two
Competing in Barcelona for the third time, Leonardo Mayer has kicked off the campaign with a hard-fought 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 triumph over Marius Copil in two hours and 36 minutes, securing the ninth win of the season. The Argentinian won just six points more than his rival and saved all five break points to keep serve intact and mount the pressure on Copil who gave his best in sets two and three before hitting the exit door after losing serve in the last game of the match. Leonardo broke in the very first return game to open a 3-0 lead, fending off four break points at 3-1 and delivering two solid holds for a 6-3.
They saved all four break points in the second set to reach the tie break that Copil claimed 7-3 after three mini-breaks, sending the match into a decider and extending his chances against the better clay-courter. Nonetheless, Mayer left the second set behind him and delivered some rock-solid tennis in the decider, waiting for an opportunity on the return and finding it at 6-5 when he secured a break at love to move over the finish line and advance into the second round. Jan-Lennard Struff needed just 51 minutes to dismiss a qualifier Hugo Dellien 6-3, 6-1 with a dominant display on both serve and return, dropping 14 points in eight service games and saving all three break points.
On the other hand, Dellien had nothing left in the tank after the qualifying round, giving away 46% of the points behind the initial shot and suffering four breaks from as many chances he gave to the German. Jan-Lennard claimed the opener with a break in game four and he grabbed three in a row in set number two to cross the finish line in style and notch the tenth win of the season. Marton Fucsovics took down Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-1 in an hour and 17 minutes, fending off two break points he faced and standing strong on the return as well with nine break chances created, converting four of those to control the scoreboard from 3-3 in the opening set when he broke for the first time.
In the battle of the American youngsters, Taylor Fritz continued where he left in Monte Carlo, toppling Reilly Opelka 6-3, 6-4 in just 55 minutes for the seventh triumph in 2019. Playing well on both the first and second serve, Fritz never faced a break point and he made the difference on the rival's second serve, creating four break chances and taking one in each set to sail into the second round. The first set lasted just 25 minutes and we saw eight good holds on both sides and one loose service game for Reilly when he got broken at 15 after a poor volley at 2-3.
Focused and composed in his games, Fritz hit three service winners in the ninth game for a 6-3, building the confidence before set number two where he broke in the third game with a beautiful forehand winner that moved him a set and a break up. Serving for the victory at 5-4, Taylor fired a forehand winner to wrap up the match and score another good win on his least favorite surface, the third in two weeks. Mackenzie McDonald earned the first ATP win on clay, ousting Taro Daniel 6-2, 6-2 in just 67 minutes to extend his good run so far in 2019.
The American dominated behind the initial shot, losing nine points in eight service games to avoid break points and get a chance to push hard on the return where he took half of the points to create ten opportunities. Daniel saved six of those but Mackenzie did more than enough damage to stay in front all the time, taking the last four games of the opening set and sealing the deal with a forehand crosscourt winner in the eighth game of the second set for the place in round two.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2GuFR09
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