Carreno Busta Races Past Nardi To Kick-Start Hamburg Title Defence

After a dream run to the title in 2021, Pablo Carreno Busta did not take long to find his groove once again on Tuesday at the Hamburg European Open.

The defending champion eased to a 6-2, 6-1 first-round win against #NextGenATP Italian Luca Nardi in northern Germany. Carreno Busta, whose triumph in Hamburg a year ago was his first at the ATP 500 level, converted five from seven break points against his 18-year-old opponent to set a second-round meeting with Alex Molcan.

Carreno Busta now holds a 10-3 record in Hamburg, where he also reached the semi-finals in 2019. The World No. 23 arrived in Germany off the back of a strong run last week in Bastad, where he reached the semi-finals before falling to eventual champion Francisco Cerundolo.

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A trio of seeded players suffered early exits on Tuesday in Hamburg. Emil Ruusuvuori upset third seed Diego Schwartzman with an impressive 7-5, 6-4 victory on tournament debut. The win brought the Finn level at 1-1 in his ATP Head2Head series with Schwartzman, after the Argentine prevailed in the pair’s first meeting in Indian Wells in March. Ruusuvuori’s second-round opponent in Germany will be #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-3 on Monday.

The other seeded players to fall were Nikoloz Basilashvili and Holger Rune. Aslan Karatsev downed sixth seed Basilashvili 6-4, 6-0 in the pair’s maiden tour-level meeting, while Tallon Griekspoor took out eighth seed Rune 7-6(8), 7-5.

Also on Tuesday, Fabio Fognini held off a fierce challenge from Aljaz Bedene to notch his 400th tour-level win.

Fognini claimed the only break of the first set to move ahead at the ATP 500 event in northern Germany, but he was made to dig deep after Bedene responded strongly to force a decider. Fognini saved five break points in the opening game of the deciding set before prevailing in a tie-break to seal his 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) victory.

The win improved Fognini’s lead in his ATP Head2Head series with Bedene to 10-1. The 35-year-old Italian is a nine-time tour-level titlist but is chasing his first crown since claiming his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in 2019.

Fognini, the 2013 champion in Hamburg, is now 14-13 for 2022. That record includes runs to the semi-finals on the clay in Rio de Janeiro and Belgrade. His second-round opponent in Germany will be seventh seed Karen Khachanov.