Garcia-Lopez, Mathieu Win In Estoril

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez hung on and Paul-Henri Mathieu played the role of Portuguese spoiler on Tuesday at the Millennium Estoril Open.

Garcia-Lopez was leading by a set and 5-1 in the second against German Michael Berrer. But Berrer crawled back into the match and forced a second-set tie-break, where Garcia-Lopez ultimately prevailed to win the match 6-3, 7-6(3).

“He was playing better and better every point. He felt more free on court, and I was feeling the pressure to close the match,” Garcia-Lopez said.

The No. 5 seed moves into the second round to face French qualifier Stephane Robert for the first time.

Mathieu had the President of Portugal attending his match against Portuguese Gastao Elias, who cracked the Top 100 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time this week. Elias’ ranking jumped 23 spots after he won the Torino Challenger in Italy on Sunday. But it was Mathieu who advanced on Tuesday, winning 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 31 minutes.

“It’s never easy to play a player who is from the country of the tournament. He was playing with great confidence,” Mathieu said. “So I’m happy with the victory in two sets.”

The Frenchman will meet his countryman and No. 1 seed Gilles Simon in the second round. Mathieu leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 3-1.

#NextGen star Kyle Edmund of Great Britain also advanced on Tuesday, beating Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 7-5. Edmund will face No. 3 seed Benoit Paire of France for the first time. Spaniard Inigo Cervantes also moved into the second round. He beat compatriot Daniel Munoz de la Nava, 6-4, 6-1. Cervantes will play No. 2 seed Nick Kyrgios.

WEDNESDAY PREVIEW

Kyrgios celebrates his 21st birthday Wednesday at the Millennium Estoril Open, site of the first ATP World Tour final of his career. Kyrgios, runner-up to Richard Gasquet in 2015, plays his first clay-court match of the year against Cervantes. The Aussie hasn’t competed since April 1, when he fell to Kei Nishikori in the ATP Masters 1000 Miami semi-finals.

All was not lost for Kyrgios in Miami. After beating Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals, Kyrgios rose to a career-high No. 20 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, solidifying his place as the No. 1 player in the ATP World Tour Next Generation. Kyrgios also became the first Next Generation star to win a singles title when he swept Gasquet, Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic in February at the Open 13 in Marseille.

Joining Kyrgios in Estadio Millennium are fellow Next Generation players Edmund and Borna Coric. The sixth-seeded Coric takes on Rogerio Dutra Silva. Play begins with a pair of Spaniards in the final first-round match of the draw: No. 8 seed Pablo Carreño Busta versus wild card Fernando Verdasco. In a rain-delayed final at Bucharest on Monday, Verdasco defeated Lucas Pouille for his seventh singles title.