Ferrer Kicks Off 2017 With Brisbane Victory

Eighth seed David Ferrer opened up his 2017 season in style on Monday at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, putting on an impressive performance to dispatch local favourite Bernard Tomic, 6-3, 7-5.

“My goals this year are to be happy with myself and be focused in every tournament that I play, without pressure,” said Ferrer. “All tennis players have pressure, but at this moment of my career, I need to enjoy these types of matches on Centre Court. I am 34 years old, 35 next month, so I hope I will play a little bit longer.”

The World No. 21 will once again have to contend with a pro-Aussie crowd in the second round when he faces wild card Jordan Thompson. The 22-year-old Sydney native, a winner on Sunday over NextGen star and fellow wild card Elias Ymer, is looking to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final.

Ferrer stayed on top of Tomic’s serve in the opening set, breaking the Aussie three times and holding the lead throughout. Both players traded routine service holds throughout the second set until the final game of the match, with the Spaniard raising his level to break Tomic and secure victory.

In other first-round matches, Nicolas Mahut came out on top in an all-French battle against Stephane Robert, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Mahut rallied from 1-4 down in the final set to secure the comeback win.

Next up for the Frenchman is the winner between No. 7 seed Grigor Dimitrov and Steve Johnson. Dimitrov leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Mahut 1-0, but they haven’t played in more than four years. The Frenchman leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Johnson 1-0, but hasn’t played the American in more than two years.