Thanasi Kokkinakis has set up a clash with world No.19 Lorenzo Musetti in the second round of the ATP 1000 Toronto Masters after a solid first-up success.
After winning two qualifying rounds to reach the main draw, the 27-year-old South Australian recorded a 7-5 6-4 victory over China’s Zhang Zhizhen on a rain-affected Monday.
In the first match on tour between the two players, who have almost identical records in 2023, the 86th-ranked Kokkinakis blasted down 14 aces and never faced a break point against the world No.63.
Kokkinakis will face 16th seed Musetti in the round of 32 after the Italian scored a 6-4 6-1 win over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
There were also straight-sets victories for three-time grand slam semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini, along with Hubert Hurkacz and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, while Tommy Paul, Francisco Cerundolo and Jiri Lehecka triumphed in three.
Berrettini has won seven tour-level titles in his career but has yet to triumph on hard courts.
The 27-year-old, who is making his debut in Toronto, will next play countryman and seventh seed Jannik Sinner.
Wild card Milos Raonic, of Canada, outlasted US ninth seed Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in a two hour, 44 minute epic.
Raonic is making his third tournament appearance since returning to the ATP Tour in June after an injury absence of nearly two years.
“It doesn’t matter how much you do the right things, you never know when things (will) click and things come together for you,” Raonic said.
“It’s incredibly special for it to be here.”
Australians Alex de Minaur, Max Purcell and Aleksandar Vukic will on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) attempt to join Kokkinakis in the second round in Canada.
Purcell, like Kokkinakis, fought his way into the main draw through qualifying, while Vukic entered as a ‘lucky loser’ after the withdrawal of world No.20 Grigor Dimitrov.
De Minaur, fresh from losing to world No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the Los Cabos Open in Mexico, begins his Toronto campaign against British No.1 Cameron Norrie.
Source: AAP