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Defending Champion Mannarino Advances at Almaty Open; Andreescu Crashes Out of Osaka


Almaty Open—Kazakhstan

Defending Champion Mannarino Advances at Almaty Open; Andreescu Crashes Out of Osaka

Defending champion Adrian Mannarino advanced to the second round of the Almaty Open on Tuesday, defeating Roman Safiullin 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3.

Needing two hours and 46 minutes to advance, Mannarino struck two aces, saved 7/10 breaks points and added 26 winners to his victory.

Currently ranked No. 56 in the world, Mannarino will next face James Duckworth or Aleksandar Vukic for a place in the quarterfinals.

The tournament’s top seed Frances Tiafoe will play his first match on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Gabriel Diallo, Daniel Evans, Otto Virtanen and Beibit Zhukayev all reached the round of 16.

Lehecka Advances in Belgium

No. 5 seed Jiri Lehecka advanced to the second round of the European Open on Tuesday in Antwerp, Belgium, defeating Spaniard Jaume Munar 6-1, 6-4.

Lehecka will next face either Gilles Arnaud Bailly or Daniel Altmaier for a place in the final eight.

Other action on the day saw Hugo Gaston advancing by dispatching Alexey Vatutin 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Gaston is currently ranked No. 77 in the world.

Fearnley Edges Moutet in Stockholm

Qualifier Jacob Fearnley needed five match points to reach the second round of the BNP Paribas Nordic Open in Stockholm, Sweden on Tuesday, dismissing the always entertaining court-craft of Corentin Moutet, 6-2, 7-6(5).

Fearnley, who started the year ranked No. 646, is currently ranked No. 90 in the world.

Still to come on Tuesday, No. 5 seed Nicolas Jarry will be in action and Leo Borg (the son of legendary Swede Bjorn Borg) will take to the court for his first-round match.

Top seed Andrey Rublev will play his second-round match on Thursday.

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Kinoshita Group Japan Open—Osaka, Japan

Former US Open winner Bianca Andresscu crashed out of the Japan Open on Tuesday, losing in meek fashion to Greet Minnen from Germany 6-3, 6-0 in 62 minutes.

Andresscu, who has battled with injuries and her confidence all season long, fell to 8-8 on the year. The 24-year-old, from Mississauga, Ontario, won the US Open in 2019 and was ranked as high as No. 4 in the world.

Minnen, who has been ranked as high as No. 59 in the world, currently stands at No. 95. She will next face Diane Parry from France in round two.

Other winners on the day included No. 3 seed Elise Mertens, No. 4 seed Marie Bouzkova, No. 5 seed Elina Avanesyan, Sara Saito, Ana Bogdan, Eva Lys and Harriet Dart.

Boulter Advances in Ningbo

British star Katie Boulter advanced to the second round of the Ningbo Open in China on Tuesday, defeating former top five player Sara Errani 6-3, 6-2.

Boulter, who has had a great year on Tour, is currently ranked No. 35. The 27-year-old will next face top seed Beatriz Haddad Maia for a place in the quarterfinals.

Other winners on the day in Ningbo featured No. 7 seed Anna Kalinskaya, Ye-Xin Ma, Katerina Siniakova and Ella Seidel all reaching the round of 16.

Wednesday’s schedule will feature No. 5 seed Daria Kasatkina, No. 8 see Paula Badosa and US Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova in action.

Check back for daily updates from TennisConnected.com throughout the fortnight for your up-to-date schedules, reviews, draws and results.