#NextGen star Borna Coric kept up his good start to the clay-court season on Monday, beating qualifier Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy 6-4, 6-1 at the Millennium Estoril Open. Coric, who made the final at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech earlier this month, erased the only break point he faced during his first-round match in Portugal.

The Croat also broke his opponent five times during the one-hour and 18-minute contest. The No. 6 seed will face German Benjamin Becker or Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva in the second round.

No. 7 seed Leonardo Mayer, the other singles seed in action on Monday, had similar luck against a home underdog, World No. 368 Pedro Sousa, who received a wild card into the tournament. The Argentine needed one hour and 20 minutes to dismiss Sousa 6-1, 6-4. Mayer next will play Italian Paolo Lorenzi or #NextGen star Elias Ymer of Sweden, who qualified for the event.

Nicolas Almagro also started another clay-court event well with a straight-set win against Frederico Ferreira Silva 6-3, 6-2. Almagro reached the final of the Argentina Open earlier this year before losing to Austrian Dominic Thiem. The Spaniard will face a home favourite in the second round, No. 4 seed Joao Sousa of Portugal. It will be their first meeting.

Qualifier Stephane Robert of France persisted through another round, beating Thomas Fabbiano of Italy 6-2, 6-2. The 35 year old next will play either German Michael Berrer or No. 5 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Diego Schwartzman shares the last time…

I missed a flight?
The last time I missed a flight was in Chile, Santiago, Chile, 2011. I was alone… I was supposed to go to see (house music DJ) Bob Sinclar and then I missed my flight. I stayed longer than I needed to and I missed my flight to come back to (Buenos Aires).

I lost something important?
One month ago, I forgot the key inside my car… I put my shoes in the trunk, and I forgot I had put my keys in my shoes… Then I needed to call a service, and they came two hours later, and it was a problem… Because I needed to pay a lot of money for them to open the trunk and the car. And then I took the key and left… It cost around $1,000. Yeah, it was too much. Argentina is not cheap.

I paid money to rent a tennis court or buy tennis balls?
Sometimes when it’s raining in Buenos Aires, you need to pay for the indoor courts… We don’t have many indoor clay courts in Argentina… The balls, I think my coach pays but I don’t know the price… Indoor courts in Argentina? Ten. In the winter, it’s really tough to play outdoors because it rains a lot.

Being famous helped me?
Sometimes that happens in Buenos Aires. I see people around my age… The boys always say, “Oh, he’s Diego Schwartzman.” I am Jewish and in Argentina, we have many Jewish (people) there, and all the people there know me…(They say), “Enjoy! Good luck this season. Come on, keep going!”

I strung a tennis racquet?
Never… I tried but it’s too difficult… Six years ago. When I was playing Futures…. Now I go to the stringer (and say), “Here’s my racquet. Do it, please.”

I cooked for myself and others?
This year, many times in Miami, Melbourne… We rent an apartment. And I stay with my coach, my physio, and my friends, and I cook. I like to cook.

I met a childhood idol?
My idol is Juan Román Riquelme… a football player in Argentina… Never met him.

I shared a hotel room with another player?
One year or two years ago.

I asked someone famous for an autograph or selfie?
I take some selfies with the football players in Argentina… last year in November, December. I put it on my Instagram.

Fernando Verdasco captured his first ATP World Tour title in two years on Monday at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy.

Verdasco swept past first-time finalist Lucas Pouille, part of the ATP’s Next Generation, 6-3, 6-2 in 75 minutes.

“I’m very happy because I won this trophy,” said Verdasco. “It was a long time since I was in this position, to win a tournament or to play in a final.

“It’s not easy to wait a day to play. It wasn’t stressful, but hard. When it rains you have to be ready to play at every moment, especially if it is a final, not a first round. I wanted to play, no matter what. We did play, even if the last game was complicated when it started raining again. I’m glad that it all ended there.”

The 32-year-old Spaniard improved to 7-13 in finals by lifting his first trophy since April 2014 at Houston (d. Almagro). He earned €82,450 in prize money and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points for his efforts in Bucharest.

Verdasco saved three break points in a 17-point third game before breaking Pouille to love. He went on to open up a 4-1 lead and completed the 43-set on his first set point opportunity.

The World No. 60 carried the momentum into the second set, breaking Pouille to love in the opening game. He took a 5-1 lead courtesy of another break to 30 in the fifth game. Verdasco is now 13-7 on the season.

It was the first title match to be carried over to a Monday since 5 October 2015, when Tomas Berdych overcame Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for the Shenzhen title.

The 22-year-old Pouille goes onto his next tournament with €43,430 and 150 points. He had been trying to become first French winner since Gilles Simon in 2012.

“It was not easy to play my first final in these conditions,” said Pouille. “We had to wait for a long time. We didn’t know when we would play. However, it was the same conditions for both players and Fernando just played better than me today.

“I had some break points in the first set, it was close and very intense from the beginning. Then I started the second set poorly and Fernando played some really good tennis. He didn’t give me many points. Congratulations to him. As far as I am concerned, despite the loss, it was a positive week and I hope to keep on improving in the coming weeks.”

Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea delighted Romanian supporters on Monday morning when they were victors in a rain-interrupted BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy final.

Tecau claimed the 300th match win of his career with his fourth title at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament by partnering fellow 31-year-old Mergea to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Chris Guccione and Andre Sa in 76 minutes.

Tecau has now won four titles on home soil with as many partners, prevailing with Robert Lindstedt in 2012, Max Mirnyi in 2013 and Jean-Julien Rojer in 2014.

“All these days we’ve done everything to be prepared to play when the weather allowed it,” said Tecau. “We waited on Sunday, we played a set, and today we woke up very early, like 6:00 a.m. to be here and see what happens. This title, for us, is a dream come true. Something we thought of since we were children. We are happy and we thank our team and the people who came to support us all week, despite the rain.”

Mergea added, “It wasn’t an easy week for us, but we wanted to play together here. We are happy with the title. Now we have more confidence in ourselves, in our game. It’s a first step towards our goal, which is a medal at the Olympics in Rio.”

This week, Tecau and Mergea played together at an ATP World Tour event for the first time since the same tournament in 2008. They shared €25,070 in prize money and earned 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points.

The start of the doubles final on Sunday was initially pushed back two hours. Mergea and Tecau eventually sealed the first set 7-5 in 41 minutes, but no further play was possible as ATP supervisor Gerry Armstrong called off play at 5:50 p.m. local time.

Scheduled for an 9:30 a.m. resumption on Monday, the final did not begin due to light rain until 10:25 a.m. Both teams exchanged early serve breaks, but Mergea and Tecau broke for a fourth time in the match for a 4-3 lead en route to the title.

Mergea is now 6-6 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals, while Tecau – in his first title match of 2016 – improves to 28-16 overall. Tecau has won 16 straight matches in Bucharest since his last loss in the 2011 quarter-finals with Robert Lindstedt.

Guccione and Sa were contesting their third ATP World Tour team final, having won in Nottingham and reaching the final in Shenzhen last year. Guccione is 4-6 in finals, while Sa dropped to 10-17. They moved onto their next tournament with €13,170 and 150 points.