A host of past and present Argentine tennis greats gathered at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club on Monday to unveil the newly named Court Central Guillermo Vilas.

Argentina’s most decorated player, Vilas reached a career-high No.2 in the world in 1975 and won 62 ATP World Tour titles, including the Tour Finals in 1974. Vilas won four majors – the Australian Open in 1978 and 1979, as well as the French and US Opens in 1977.

“I have spent many years of my life in this club and I have played a lot of matches on this court. I would like to thank a lot of people who were very important to me throughout my career. Firstly, the person who made me into a tennis player – my first coach, Felipe Locicero,” Vilas said. “I would also like to thank my physio Carlos Belfonte, whose training allowed me to win at the Grand Slam level. I feel very happy and it is an honour to have this court named after me, and I’m very grateful”.

He was joined on court on Monday by current ATP World Tour player Juan Monaco and former greats, including Alberto Mancini, Guillermo Coria, Gaston Gaudio, Jose Luis Clerc and Martin Jaite as well as former WTA Tour players Paola Suarez, Gabriela Sabatini and Norma Baylon.

Top seed Rafael Nadal has had his first hit out ahead of his Argentina Open title defence, practising with compatriot David Ferrer in Buenos Aires on Monday.

It was the first look at Nadal in action since his first-round exit to another of his countrymen, Fernando Verdasco, at this year’s Australian Open. The Spaniard downed his good friend Juan Monaco to claim last year’s title in the Argentine capital and the pair could be set for a rematch in the second round provided Tandil native Monaco wins his first match.

“I didn’t like at all the defeat in Australia, but that I cannot solve,” Nadal said. “It was a bad tournament. [It] just did not work out despite having prepared very well. So I’m in Buenos Aires to give my best and try to make a better presentation.

“Every season is different, but with the same purpose to fight in every tournament and finish as high as possible in the ranking. I’m happy to return to Argentina, because every time I left this country I did it with a lot of positive energy. They treat me very well here, like few places in the world.”

World No. 5 Nadal has a first-round bye, while Monaco can set up an eighth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with his occasional doubles partner should he get past Italian qualifier, Marco Cecchinato. The pair won the 2015 Doha doubles title together, and finished runners-up at Vina Del Mar in 2013.

“Monaco was injured a long time, so we have to wait if he can eliminate Cecchinato,” Nadal said. “I hope that Juan can win because he is my friend and a victory would benefit him after many days without playing. Anyway, it will be a difficult match for me.”

A tournament record five American teenagers are competing in this year’s Memphis Open presented by ServiceMaster. Overall there are 13 Americans in the 28-player draw, the most in Memphis since 2010 when there were 14.

Taylor Fritz (18), Tommy Paul (18), Frances Tiafoe (18), Michael Mmoh (18) and Jared Donaldson (19) posed together in front of the Racquet Club’s Memphis Open 40^th anniversary  tournament sign. Mmoh and Donaldson qualified on Sunday into the main draw. The other three players are wild cards.

The five American teenagers in the draw surpassed the previous tournament record of four in 1989. That foursome featured future Grand Slam tournament champions Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Jim Courier and Pete Sampras.

The last time an ATP World Tour tournament featured at least five American teenagers in the main draw was in Stratton Mountain in August 1989 when there were six teenagers: Agassi, Steve Bryan, Chang, Courier, Jared Palmer and Sampras.

Teenager Alexander Zverev was presented with a special award on Monday in Rotterdam, recognising his first year-end Top 100 finish in the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2015.

Receiving his award from ATP Tour Manager, Fernando Sanchez, 18-year-old Zverev said, “It’s a big milestone. To get this award at only 18 years of age is big for me. It’s a really big stepping stone for any tennis player, finishing the year in the Top 100. I feel good. I’ve been playing well the past couple of weeks. Coming into this big tournament, I feel comfortable. I can do well here as well.”

Zverev was named the 2015 Emirates ATP Star of Tomorrow after finishing last season as the youngest player inside the Top 100. The German comes into the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament at a career-high World No. 70 after reaching the semi-finals in Montpellier last week (l. to Mathieu).

Zverev will open his campaign at this ATP World Tour 500 indoor hard-court tournament against Canada’s Vasek Pospisil.

Former champion Nicolas Almagro made a strong start to his Argentina Open campaign Monday, beating qualifier Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-3 to reach the second round in Buenos Aires.

In the first meeting between the Spaniards since 2011, Almagro claimed just his second match win of the year after firing 11 aces and saving all four break points faced. He dropped just five points on his first serve (25/30).

The 30-year-old Spaniard, who also finished runner-up to David Ferrer in 2012, improved to 26-9 at the event. He has reached the semi-finals the past three years – 2013 (l. to Wawrinka), 2014 (l. to Ferrer), and 2015 (l. to Monaco).

The former World No. 9, who levelled his FedEx ATP Head2Head record with Montanes at 3-3, is playing his first event since falling in second round of the Australian Open (l. to Thiem). He fell in the first round of Chennai (l. to Pavic) in his only other appearance of 2016.

Buenos Aires local Diego Schwartzman got his campaign off to a winning start with an upset of No.7 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. The 23 year old needed two hours and 10 minutes to defeat the Ukrainian and did so on the back of 11 aces, winning 63 per cent of points on his first serve and 65 per cent on his second serve.

Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo posted a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Spaniard Inigo Cervantes in one hour and 27 minutes. Giraldo converted five of 12 break points on his way to the second round.

Marin Cilic, the 2014 runner-up, fired down 10 aces and won 90 per cent of his first service points to beat Denis Istomin on Monday for a spot in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament second round.

“It was a very close match,” said Cilic. “Denis is the kind of player that can play really, really well, especially indoors. He’s got really good shots from the back of the court. I think it was a strange match today. Both of us were serving extremely well. There were no breaks of serve in the match until the last game. I was threatening a lot in the second set and was close to converting some break opportunities. I had to hang in there mentally. I was moving well and serving well and that was key for me.”

Watch Cilic Pre-Tournament Interview

Ivan Dodig saved all four break points he faced to knock out seventh seed Benoit Paire 6-3, 7-6(4) in 90 minutes, while Jiri Vesely hit 11 aces to win an all-Czech clash against Lukas Rosol 6-4, 6-2 in 75 minutes.

Watch Dodig Hot Shot

Borna Coric made it three from three for the Croats when he made a winning debut against local wild card Thiemo de Bakker. The 19 year old saved 10 set points to secure the opening tiebreak and went on to break in the eighth game of the third set, converting his seventh break point of the match.

“It was a very close match. In the end I was a little bit lucky, but also brave,” Coric said. “I didn’t play very well in my last three tournaments. I didn’t feel very well [on the court]. This was my fresh start. I focused on this match a lot and I did play well in the end. I just knew if I broke at that stage in the third that more or less that would be it. I was really digging in there.”

French qualifier Nicolas Mahut continued his run of form to down Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 7-6(4). The 34 year old hit six aces and won 77 per cent of first serve points to progress in one hour and 51 minutes.