#NextGen Edmund Advances In Tight Antwerp Debut

#NextGen Kyle Edmund squeaked by Croatian Illya Marchenko 7-6(7), 7-6(5) during his European Open debut on Tuesday in Antwerp. The 21-year-old Brit won 67 per cent of his service points and benefitted from 13 Marchenko double faults.

Edmund, who’s playing at a career-high No. 43 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will next play second seed David Ferrer, who received a first-round bye.

Argentine Diego Schwartzman survived a tight contest as well, beating seventh seed Nicolas Mahut 7-6(2), 7-5. Schwartzman converted all four of his break points and will play #NextGen star Taylor Fritz or Belgian wild card Joris De Loore in the second round.

Romanian qualifier Marius Copil recorded only his fourth tour-level match win of the season by knocking out sixth seed Joao Sousa 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 48 minutes. Another qualifier, Jozef Kovalik, beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-3. Elsewhere, Jan-Lennard Struff broke a two-match losing streak against Mikhail Youzhny by hitting 11 aces in a 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-0 win over two hours and 38 minutes.