Bautista Agut Battles Through In Winston-Salem

Second seed Roberto Bautista Agut did it the hard way on Tuesday, needing more than two hours to secure a win in his opening match at the Winston-Salem Open. Much like top seed Richard Gasquet a day earlier, the Spaniard needed three sets to get his 2016 campaign off the mark. He prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 against Brit Aljaz Bedene, with his opponent serving 15 aces but finishing one for eight on break points won.

Bautista Agut, a winner of hard-court titles this season in Auckland and Sofia, will play No. 14 seed Marcos Baghdatis in the third round after the Cypriot won through a two-hour-plus struggle of his own against Donald Young. Baghdatis won 76 per cent of first-serve points in the 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 result.

Three-time semi-finalist Sam Querrey also progressed to to the third round after narrowly holding off Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The sixth-seeded American posted a 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5 victory in two hours and eight minutes on the back of 24 aces.

Querrey won 86 per cent of first-serve points and saved nine of 10 break points. He awaits the winner between Viktor Troicki and Kyle Edmund.

Third seed Pablo Cuevas had a smoother path to the third round. The Uruguayan downed Malek Jaziri 7-5, 6-1 to book a clash with Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. The No. 16 seed moved past Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-5.

For the second year in a row, Gilles Simon bowed out in his Winston-Salem opener. The seventh-seeded Frenchman fell to Argentine Diego Schwartzman 7-6(2), 6-1 on Tuesday. Schwartzman, World No. 68 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, was a finalist earlier this year at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (l. Dimitrov). He awaits the winner between No. 10 seed Joao Sousa and Yen-Hsun Lu.

It was an early exit also for Spanish eighth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas. He fell 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to John Millman. The Australian next meets American wild card Bjorn Fratangelo, who knocked out 11th-seeded Italian Paolo Lorenzi, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in two hours.