THREE more ATP 250 events have begun this week in the wake of the Tokyo Olympics beginning over the weekend, with two clay court events starting up in Gstaad, Switzerland and Umag, Croatia, as the Mifel Open hard court event began in Mexico.

In Switzerland, sixth seed Benoit Paire and eighth seed Feliciano Lopez both claimed opening round wins, with the former overcoming Jozef Kovalik and the latter well and truly tested by a hungry Marc-Andrea Huesler before the Swiss talent retired at the sticking point, down 6-5 during the third set. But what was looking like an inevitable tiebreaker to round out a thrilling clash was put to a stop with Huesler forced to retired with an injured toe, seeing Lopez advance to the the second round with the 6-4 4-6 6-5 result. The two hour and six minute clash saw the two players combine for 21 aces and 12 double faults, with even service games making the contest hard to split. The only other three setter at the event saw Sweden’s Mikael Ymer overcome a shaky start to down lucky loser Enzo Couacaud, with Ymer set to take on Lopez next following his 4-6 6-3 6-3 result. A couple of qualifiers earned wins as Czech Vit Kopriva overcame Swiss wildcard Johan Nikles and Zizou Bergs overcame another qualifier in German Oscar Otte, as Australian Marc Polmans rounded out the day’s winners with a 7-5 6-3 victory over a third Swiss talent in Sandro Ehrat.

In Mexico, just two seeds competed, with American sixth seed Steve Johnson claiming a one hour and 41-minute victory over Mexican wildcard Gerardo Lopez Villasenor, while Italian seventh seed Andreas Seppi looked to get off to a great start before he was overcome by Australian Alex Bolt, who fired up after giving away a bagel set early to claim the eventual 0-6 6-2 6-3 victory in one hour and 36 minutes. Just one other clash came to three sets in a battle of Americans, as teenager Brandon Nakashima fought back from a tight second set deficit to claim the 6-3 6-7(5) 6-2 victory over compatriot J.J. Wolf. Elsewhere, Russian Evgeny Donskoy and Austrian Sebastian Ofner both claimed wins, with the former clinching the quickest completed match in 80 minutes, while Ofner made his way through off the back of compatriot Jurij Rodionov‘s retirement during the second set.

In Croatia, just three matches played out with Stefano Travaglia toppling sixth seed Jaume Munar in straight sets, 6-3 7-6(1), set to take on another Spaniard in the second round in Carlos Taberner, who overcame wildcard Croatian Nino Serdarusic. Meanwhile, Moldovan Radu Albot claimed his first clay court victory of the year, reigning supreme over teenaged wildcard Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune, exacting some revenge after the Dane defeated him in Nordea last week.

SWISS OPEN GSTAAD ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[6] Benoit Paire (FRA) defeated Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 6-3 7-6
[8] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler (SUI) 6-4 4-6 6-5 RET
[Q] Zizou Bergs (BEL) defeated [Q] Oscar Otte (GER) 7-6 6-1
[Q] Vit Kopriva (CZE) defeated [WC] Johan Nikles (SUI) 6-2 6-1
Marc Polmans (AUS) defeated [Q] Sandro Ehrat (SUI) 7-5 6-3
Mikael Ymer (SWE) defeated [LL] Enzo Couacaud (FRA) 4-6 6-3 6-3

MIFEL OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[6] Steve Johnson (USA) defeated [WC] Gerardo Lopez Villasenor (MEX) 7-6 6-2
Alex Bolt (AUS) defeated [7] Andreas Seppi (ITA) 0-6 6-2 6-3
Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) defeated Jason Jung (TPE) 6-1 5-4
Sebastian Ofner (AUT) defeated Jurij Rodionov (AUT) 6-3 3-1 RET
Brandon Nakashima (USA) defeated J.J. Wolf (USA) 6-3 6-7 6-2

PLAVA LAGUNA CROATIA OPEN UMAG ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

Stefano Travaglia (ITA) defeated [6] Jaume Munar (ESP) 6-3 7-6
Radu Albot (MDA) defeated [WC] Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune (DEN) 1-6 6-3 6-2
Carlos Taberner (ESP) defeated [WC] Nino Serdarusic (CRO) 6-2 6-2

Picture credit: Swiss Open Gstaad