Qualifier Dusan Lajovic continued his solid run at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday, scoring an impressive 6-3, 6-3 victory over wild card and #NextGenATP player Frances Tiafoe in the opening round.
The Serbian dropped just four points in racing to a 4-0 lead in the opening set and continued to hold the momentum, breaking Tiafoe twice more in the second set to secure the win in one hour and 17 minutes. Lajovic will now play No. 30 seed Feliciano Lopez.
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Alexandr Dolgopolov kept up his recent run of form with a convincing 6-1, 6-4 victory over Viktor Troicki. Last month’s Argentina Open champion broke the Serbian twice in each set to wrap up victory in 69 minutes. Next up for Dolgopolov is No. 29 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Fabio Fognini completed a miraculous 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 comeback over Konstantin Kravchuk. The Italian trailed 3-5 in the second set before going on a five-game run and also saved three break points serving at 3-4 in the final set. Fognini’s path only gets tougher when he plays seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round.
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Thursday proved to be a successful day for qualifiers, with Vasek Pospisil continuing his resurgence by scoring a 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3 win over Yen-Hsun Lu. The Canadian is rewarded for his efforts with a second-round clash against top seed Andy Murray.
Another qualifier, Yoshihito Nishioka, cruised through his opening test against wild card and #NextGenATP player Elias Ymer 6-4 6-1. The Japanese player went on a seven-game run from down 3-4 in the opening set. He will now play No. 19 seed Ivo Karlovic for a place in the last 32.
Other players to advance in first-round matches include Martin Klizan and Jeremy Chardy.
