Aussie Nick Kyrgios hit 14 aces to beat Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(1), 6-4 and move into the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Monday. Kyrgios, playing in his first clay-court match since 27 May 2016, won 81 per cent of his service points and converted his only break point.
The 16th-seeded Kyrgios will next face American Ryan Harrison or countryman Bernard Tomic in the second round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. The Aussie is now 17-4 on the season and looking to improve upon his quarter-final run in Madrid last year.
German Florian Mayer set-up a second-round contest against ninth seed David Goffin by beating Spaniard Marcel Granollers 7-5, 7-5. Mayer won four of his six break points to knock out the home favourite in one hour and 45 minutes.
#NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson took full advantage of his lucky-loser entry into the main draw with a 7-5, 6-3 win against French qualifier Adrian Mannarino. The 20-year-old Donaldson will next face eighth seed Dominic Thiem, who won the Rio title on clay earlier this year and made the Barcelona final last month.
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Marach/Pavic To Meet Top Doubles Seeds
Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic saved all four break points they faced to scrape past Florin Mergea and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-8 for a second-round meeting against top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers. Elsewhere, Fabio Fognini and Treat Huey were solid on serve in beating Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dominic Thiem 7-6(6), 6-2 to set up a clash against seventh seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers.