IN AN all-Czech battle, eighth seed Tomas Machac worked his way past his younger compatriot Jakub Mensik in two hours and 11 minutes in the first round of the the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Machac won 6-4 2-6 6-3 in two hours and 11 minutes to book his place in the Round of 16.

In a tight tussle that had no shortage of momentum swings, Mensik actually raced out to a 3-0 lead. However Machac hit back winning six of the next seven games to take the first set 6-4, including breaking in the penultimate game to go ahead.

Mensik was not done with yet though, winning four consecutive games during the middle of the second set to have a chance to serve for the set at 5-1. While Machac bucked the trend to break in the seventh game, Mensik returned serve by breaking and sending the match to a decider.

Both players held in tight circumstances to start the third set, but a break of serve to love in the fifth game gave Machac a leg up, and when he held to love in the sixth game, everything looked set for the more experienced Czech to win.

Mensik survived a long hold service game in the seventh, though again fell flat two games later when Machac broke him to love for a second time in the set, but this time it secured the match, 6-4 2-6 6-3. The win meant Machac will advance to the Round of 16 where he faces German wildcard Daniel Altmaier.

In the win over Mensik, Machac hit eight less winners (27-35), though 12 aces to two helped shift the total number in favour of the younger Czech. The eighth seed also committed 16 less unforced errors (34-50) during the match which helped, and broke five times to four, while winning 45 to 38 per cent of his comparative second serve points.

Across the rest of the Acapulco tournament, Altmaier knocked off Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in a come-from-behind three-set victory 4-6 6-4 6-3, while the top seeds advanced to the Round of 16. Casper Ruud and Ben Shelton both passed their opponents in straight sets, with American Marcos Giron and Belgian David Goffin the other two winners at the time of publishing, both beating Australians in Adam Walton and Rinky Hijikata respectively.

DUBAI TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS – ATP500

In the Middle East, fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas found his form again in a tournament he has performed strongly in the past, with the two-time finalist defeating Italian Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 6-4. He booked his place in the Round of 16 to take on Russian Karen Khachanov, after Khachanov beat British wildcard Daniel Evans for the first time in six meetings, 6-1 6-3.

“It was not an easy first-round match,” Tsitsipas said post-match. “There was some trouble in the tie-break. But it was great towards the end. I felt that I was in a bit of trouble at the end of the first set but I came up with some good returns and I think my attacking game came out in that moment.

“I was not backing down and that was something I was pleased with. I am happy with how things turned out. The second set felt like the better set. I just went for my shots and they worked.”

Meanwhile Aussie Alexei Popyrin cruised past Lebanese wildcard Hady Habib, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut defeated Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, Belgian David Goffin toppled Tunisian wildcard Aziz Dougas, and French serve bot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard powered to his maiden Dubai win with a victory over China’s Zhizhen Zhang.

CHILE OPEN – ATP250

Over in South America, a range of clay courters were battling it out to open the sole ATP250 event for the week. Local wildcard Cristian Garin got the home fans up and about following his come-from-behind victory over Argentinian qualifier Juan Pablo Ficovich, 2-6 6-4 6-4.

It was not a great day for the Argentinians, with the only other player in action being Facundo Diaz Acosta who fell to German Yannick Hanfmann in straight sets, 7-5 6-3. In the other two Round of 32 matches played, qualifier Gustavo Heide caused a boilover in the all-Brazilian clash with Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-5 6-2, while Serbian Laslo Djere overcame Peruvian wildcard Ignacio Buse, 6-3 6-4.