Thanasi Kokkinakis thrilled the home fans in Australia on Monday with a first-round comeback to beat Sebastian Korda at the Adelaide International.
Kokkinakis finished the 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory in two hours and 26 minutes, tallying 15 aces and saving six of nine break points. His second-round opponent will be No. 5 seed Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, a 7-6 (5), 6-4 winner against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.
In other opening-round matches, Ugo Humbert beat fellow Frenchman Terence Atmane 6-3, 7-6 (3), Spain’s Jaume Munar defeated Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-0 in 65 minutes and Reilly Opelka eliminated Australia’s Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 7-6 (6).
ASB Classic
No. 5 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain eased into the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over French qualifier Hugo Gaston in Auckland, New Zealand.
Norrie won 88% (29 of 33) of the points on his first serve and never faced a break point. Gaston finished with a 17-13 edge in winners but committed 31 unforced errors with six double faults.
Also in the first round, No. 7 seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina outlasted Emilio Nava 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and Argentina’s Francisco Comesana posted a 6-4, 6-4 win over France’s Valentin Royer. Jenson Brooksby eliminated New Zealand’s James Watt 6-4, 6-3, and fellow American Eliot Spizzirri defeated France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
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