Former runner-up Kevin Anderson is enjoying his return to the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings, surging past Moldova’s Radu Albot in the opening round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC on Monday night. The fifth seed’s 6-4, 6-3 result marked his fifth straight match win after his recent title run at the New York Open.
It is the 31-year-old’s first tournament ranked in the Top 10 since the Shanghai Rolex Masters in October 2015. The South African, who reached the Acapulco final in 2014 (l. to Dimitrov), arrived in Mexico at a career-high of No. 8.
In his first FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter with the 86th-ranked Albot, Anderson recovered from an early break down and reeled off four straight games to take the opening set before he broke twice to close out the match. He will next meet either Frenchman Adrian Mannarino or Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis.
Four-time champion David Ferrer (2010-12, 2015) gained some early-season revenge against #NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev, dismissing the 20-year-old 6-4, 6-3. Ferrer raced to a 5-1 lead in the opener only to have to hold on with a break after 36 minutes. Rublev was more solid in the second, but Ferrer was at his vintage self, pushing and pulling the young Russian all over the court.
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Rublev had beaten Ferrer last month at the Australian Open, handing the Spanish veteran a rare first-round loss at a Grand Slam. The 35-year-old right-hander will next meet either fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro or Mischa Zverev of Germany.
Ryan Harrison of the U.S. improved to 3-6 against countryman John Isner in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Harrison saved seven of eight break points to advance 6-3, 7-6(5).
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The 25-year-old will next face Diego Schwartzman of Argentina or Spain's Fernando Verdasco. The first-round contest is a rematch of Sunday's Rio Open presented by Claro final, which Schwartzman won.
Harrison's countryman Jared Donaldson will also stick around in Acapulco. The 21-year-old was leading 6-2, 3-2 when Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili retired. Donaldson will next play defending champion Sam Querrey of the U.S. or Aussie Matthew Ebden.