Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Denis Shapovalov have progressed from the first round of the Halle Open, though some had an easier time at the German grass-court tournament.
The second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas needed two hours, 22 minutes before he eventually prevailed against French player Gregoire Barrere 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) on Monday.
Tsitsipas, who was upset by French veteran Richard Gasquet in Stuttgart last week, was headed for another loss as he trailed by a set and a break at 3-1 down in the second set, but he recovered for a second-round meeting with Nicolas Jarry.
Top-seeded Medvedev, who lost last year’s final, defeated American qualifier Marcos Giron 6-4 6-3. Shapovalov beat South African Lloyd Harris 7-6 (7-1) 6-4.
In London British No.2 Dan Evans lost 6-4 7-5 to American Sebastian Korda at Queens. It was his seventh defeat in eight matches.
But two home favourites progressed.
World No. 13 Cameron Norrie got his grass-court season off to a winning start by beating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 7-6 (7-5). Wild card Ryan Peniston, who reached the quarter-finals last year but is ranked No.265 in the world, secured a place in the second round, and a potential meeting with second-seed Holger Rune, with an impressive 6-4 6-2 victory over world No. 37 Ugo Humbert.
“I was nervous – I was more nervous last year. But once you get going it is a lot of fun out there,” he said.
Sixth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton and Diego Schwartzman also progressed.
Australia’s Alex de Minaur faces Andy Murray in the first round on Tuesday while compatriot Jordan Thompson plays Miles Raonic.
With Nick Kyrgios withdrawing there are no Australians in the field at Halle Open grass-court tournament, putting a major question mark over his fitness to compete at Wimbledon.
The Australian, who reached last year’s final at Wimbledon, was announced on Monday as a non-starter in the German warm-up event, with his long-standing knee injury cited as the reason by the ATP.
The 28-year-old only made his comeback to action last week after being sidelined for seven months following knee surgery but he looked to be struggling badly as he went out in the first round in Stuttgart, beaten by a grass-court novice Wu Yibing 7-5 6-3.
The match was Kyrgios’ first tour-level singles match since October, excluding an exhibition appearance in Saudi Arabia in December.
Moving around the court gingerly, Kyrgios looked as if he might have been making his comeback too early, and was clearly reluctant to race around the court.
During the changeover after the third game of the second set Kyrgios could be overheard saying to his team: “I feel my knee every point. I can’t walk without pain.”
After hobbling off the court, the man from Canberra wrote on social media: “Be patient with me my fans please…. It’s a process to get back to where I was. I know it’s hard for you to see me perform like today, but I need more time and hopefully can get back to where I was.”
It looks as if it may no be in time for another crack at Wimbledon which begins in two weeks.
He had been due to play Lorenzo Sonego in Tuesday’s opening round but withdrew on the eve of his match.
