Baez Earns Opening Victory In Naples

Sebastian Baez made a winning start to his Tennis Napoli Cup campaign on Wednesday when he moved past Italian Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 7-6(3) to reach the second round.

In a tight match, the Argentine broke twice and struck 23 winners to advance after two hours and 15 minutes at the ATP 250 event, improving to 1-2 in his ATP Head2Head series against Sonego.

The sixth seed, who snapped an 11-match losing streak, will next face Chinese qualifier Zhizhen Zhang or Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.

In other action, Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena defeated Chilean Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 6-4, while Corentin Moutet edged #NextGenATP Italian Luca Nardi 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 6-2 in three hours and 32 minutes.

The 19-year-old Nardi is currently 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan on 385 points. He is 37 points behind 10th-placed Dominic Stricker. The Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals will be held from 13-20 November.

Play is currently suspended in Naples due to humidity on the courts in Italy.