THE Citi Open in Washington, United States has begun, with the ATP 500 event starting with a huge opening day of Round of 64 action.

A big day of action saw a trio of Americans claim wins on home soil, with plenty of intriguing results across the board. Two wildcards were amongst that group, with Jenson Brooksby upsetting South African Kevin Anderson 7-6(4) 6-3, reversing the result of the Hall of Fame Open final just a couple weeks ago.

“I was really proud of myself to be able to get it back and win multiple [points] in a row to get the first set,” Brooksby said. “I kept my foot on the gas pedal, started returning better, got the break. Happy to close it out in straights.”

“I was definitely happy with how I ended the first set. Obviously two weeks ago in Newport, I had a lot of chances to break, and also in the tie-break,” Brooksby said. “Didn’t get it. That was definitely disappointing.”

Brooksby outlasted Anderson’s onslaught of aces (10 to Brooksby’s one) and won 80 per cent of his first serve points to control proceedings. Fellow wildcard Jack Sock earned a quick result after dropping the first set to Yoshihito Nishioka, after the Japanese talent retired midway through the second set, 6-7(3) 4-0, while Marcos Giron was tested by Ukrainian qualifier Illya Marchenko in a tough three-hour clash, coming from a set down to claim the 4-6 6-4 7-6(1) victory.

Three Americans fell in straight sets though, with Tommy Paul upset by Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan, while Ricardas Berankis overcame qualifier Mitchell Krueger and Sam Querrey fell for the seventh time to an in-form Kei Nishikori. A former Citi Open champion in 2015 and coming off a string of solid results at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Nishikori claimed the 6-4 6-3 victory in 86 minutes.

“Yeah we have played a lot. It’s been many times,” Nishikori said. “It’s not easy playing Sam. “He has a great serve and especially this surface he has more time to play but… I returned pretty good in those games and I’m very pleased how I played today.

“I was really tired after coming from Japan and wasn’t sure if I was ready today but on the court I was fine, playing really good tennis,” Nishikori said. “First match is never easy, I wasn’t expecting 100 per cent but I hope I can keep going like this.”

Nishikori’s two compatriots fell, with Nishioka going down to the aforementioned Sock, while Yasutaka Uchiyama claimed the opener against Italian Andreas Seppi before falling 3-6 7-5 6-3. In the remaining matches, Vasek Pospisil and Ilya Ivashka both reigned supreme.

CITI OPEN ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

Vasek Pospisil (CAN) defeated [Q] Emilio Gomez (ECU) 4-6 6-3 6-3
Ricardas Berankis (LTU) defeated [Q] Mitchell Krueger (USA) 7-6 6-2
[WC] Jenson Brooksby (USA) defeated Kevin Anderson (RSA) 7-6 6-3
Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) defeated Tommy Paul (USA) 6-4 6-3
Marcos Giron (USA) defeated [Q] Illya Marchenko (UKR) 4-6 6-4 7-6
Ilya Ivashka (BLR) defeated Egor Gerasimov (BLR) 7-5 6-4
Kei Nishikori (JPN) defeated Sam Querrey (USA) 6-4 6-3
Andreas Seppi (ITA) defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 3-6 7-5 6-3
[WC] Jack Sock (USA) defeated Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-7 4-0 RET

Picture credit: Mike Lawrence/Citi Open