Thiem Breezes Through Lyon Opener
Thiem Breezes Through Lyon Opener
Dominic Thiem notched his 26th victory of the season on Tuesday to start his Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon. The top-seeded Thiem beat Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena, Ecuador Open titlist, 6-2, 6-4 in 71 minutes.
Thiem won 80 per cent of his service points and didn’t face a break point in the second-round matchup. The Austrian and nine-time ATP World Tour champion will next meet another Spaniard in Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who beat France’s Calvin Hemery 7-6(4), 6-3 to reach his third tour-level quarter-final of the season.
Garcia-Lopez, who also reached quarter-finals on clay in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo, won 81 per cent of service points and saved all three break points faced to advance.
Slovakian qualifier Filip Horansky secured his maiden ATP World Tour victory, upsetting Millennium Estoril Open champion Joao Sousa 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The World No. 334, competing in his first ATP World Tour main draw, converted five of his six break points to beat the Portuguese No. 1 in one hour and 52 minutes. Horansky will face Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic for a spot in the quarter-finals.
#NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz continued his fine form this season, notching his ninth win of the season to reach the second round. Fritz, in fifth place in the ATP Race to Milan, beat Aussie Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-2 in 55 minutes. The 20-year-old will meet third seed Jack Sock for a place in the quarter-finals. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin also progressed to the second round, beating wild card Gregoire Barrere 6-2, 6-3 in 72 minutes.