Medvedev, Seppi Among Day 1 Winners In Winston-Salem

All eyes are on Winston-Salem, North Carolina, this week as the ATP World Tour descends on the 250-level event at the home of Wake Forest University.

Daniil Medvedev set a highly-anticipated second-round clash against Alex de Minaur at the Winston-Salem Open, advancing with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Mirza Basic on Sunday. The Russian enters the hard-court tournament on the heels of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 breakthrough in Toronto, where he reached the Round of 16 as a qualifier.

Medvedev is joined by Spaniards Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Roberto Carballes Baena as Day 1 winners. Garcia-Lopez edged Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(2), 6-4, while his countryman ousted Guido Pella 6-4, 6-2 in just one hour and 22 minutes. The win was Carballes Baena’s first on hard courts in nearly one year. He faces another Spaniard, 13th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, in the second round.

In other action, Italian veteran Andreas Seppi made efficient work of Joao Sousa, dispatching the Portuguese 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 23 minutes. He drew level in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series at 2-all, having also prevailed this year in Rotterdam. Also in Seppi’s quarter of the draw, Jan-Lennard Struff moved into the second round with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win over Benoit Paire and awaits fourth seed Marco Cecchinato next.

Pablo Carreno Busta, champion in 2016, leads the field in Winston-Salem, with Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey the top home hopes.