Nikoloz Basilashvili and Jordan Thompson both scored hard-fought wins over seeded opponents on Sunday in first-round action at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon.
Basiliashvili upset seventh seed and #NextGenATP star Borna Coric 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, while Thompson ousted eighth seed and home favourite Benoit Paire 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-4 at the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament.
In remaining qualifying action, Kyle Edmund, Hyeon Chung, Nicolas Kicker and Gastao Elias all secured main draw spots.
Relive the best moments from the 2017 Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, where Sascha Zverev captured his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. Watch live matches at tennistv.com. Getty Images photo.
Watch Sascha Zverev blast a backhand winner against Novak Djokovic in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final in Rome. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com. Photo: Peter Staples / ATP World Tour.
Andrey Kuznetsov advanced to the second round of the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open on Sunday with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over former champion Thomaz Bellucci.
The Russian prevailed in just under two hours, converting five of his 13 break point chances to improve to a 3-1 record against Bellucci in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
Kuznetsov claimed his seventh win of the year to set a second-round clash with third seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
In the final round of qualifying, Mischa Zverev, Roberto Marcora, Daniel Altmaier and Franko Skugor all prevailed to secure their spots in the main draw.
Alexander Zverev won his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title on Sunday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, but he’s already thinking about the work he’ll need to put in for more big titles in the future. By defeating Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s Rome final, Zverev will crack the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time at No. 10. However, the young German said his fellow #NextGenATP peers quickly moving up the rankings, in addition to the slew of in-form players on tour at the moment, means he can’t rest on his laurels. “When I was 11 or 12, I thought I'd probably win about four Slams already by the age of 20,” joked Zverev. “Then...