Fifth seed Tommy Paul of the United States cruised to a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Spanish qualifier Nicolas Alvarez Varona on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Gijon Open in Gijon, Spain.
Paul tallied 30 winners and won 72 percent of his second-serve return points (18 of 25) to dispatch Alvarez Varona, who managed to record four aces against just one double fault.
Playing on a protected ranking, Austria’s Dominic Thiem also moved into the quarterfinals with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over American Marcos Giron. Spanish No. 2 seed Pablo Carreno Busta moved on as well, as did Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.
Pedro Cachin of Argentina and the United States’ Sebastian Korda won their first-round matches on Wednesday.
UniCredit Firenze Open
Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain took down second-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to pull off one of three second-round upsets in Florence, Italy.
Carballes Baena over came 13 aces and 52-28 edge in winners from Berrettini by saving 9 of 14 break points (64.3 percent) and converting all five of his break opportunities.
J.J. Wolf beat No. 4 seed Maxime Cressy 6-3, 6-4 in an all-American matchup, and Swedish qualifier Mikael Ymer edge fifth-seeded Aslan Karatsev of Russia 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-1 in the day’s other upsets. Seventh seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan prevailed in his match, though, coasting to a 7-5, 6-4 win over France’s Corentin Moutet.
In a battle of Americans, Mackenzie McDonald upset No. 6 seed Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in first-round action.
–Field Level Media
