THREE ATP Tour tournaments have begun this week, all offering different things with the clay court ATP 500 event in Hamburg, Germany showcasing some top talent, and a couple of ATP 250 tournaments starting up with the clay court Nordea Open in Sweden and the grass court Hall of Fame Open in Newport, USA.

At Hamburg, just the one seed competed on the opening day in Benoit Paire, with the eighth seed Frenchman handed an early finish by Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis, who retired at 6-6 in the first set. Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild claimed his first Tour level victory for the season over wildcard Spaniard Nicola Kuhn, recording the only three setter of the day 1-6 6-1 6-2. Winning 55 per cent of the overall points off the back of a successful second serve, Seyboth Wild required just under two hours to claim the victory. Elsewhere, wildcard German Philipp Kohlschreiber fought off an early bout of control from Spaniard Jaume Munar, coming from 4-5 down in the first set to eventually claim the 7-6(5) 6-4 victory, while lucky loser Sebastian Baez sped past Frenchman Corentin Moutet in just 63 minutes, 61 6-2.

At Newport, five matches played out on the grass with three seeds taking the court and one of the home favourites in sixth seed Steve Johnson falling at the first hurdle to compatriot Denis Kudla. The two Americans fought hard for momentum and the ascendancy during the 7-6(3) 3-6 6-4 clash, with the two hour and 15 minute matchup seeing a combined 22 aces hit with only Kudla’s marginally better return win rate earning him the win, winning just five more points overall. A second American in Jenson Brooksby joins Kudla in the second round following a 7-5 6-3 victory over Russian Evgeny Donskoy, earning his second ever ATP Tour win and first since 2019. Successful on the Challenger tour, with three titles from four finals, Brooksby is looking to push his game to the next level.

“I try to treat every match the same. But I want to prove that I can do the same things at all the ATP Tour events as I’ve done at the Challengers so far,” Brooksby said. “I’m very motivated to prove myself and for everybody to see how well I can do here. I’m pushing for that.”

“I think grass can actually be the best surface for my game style. Not quite yet, I’ve only played one match, but I think in the future it could actually be the best surface for my style, how I train and how I play,” Brooksby said. “I’m excited to play some more on grass.”

Seventh seed Australian Jordan Thompson and eighth seed South African Kevin Anderson – a former world number five – both found first round wins, with the former leading 5-4 in the first before his German opposition Cedrik-Marcel Stebe retired after just 56 minutes, and the latter claiming a 7-5 6-3 victory over Ukrainian Illya Marchenko. The remaining winner of the opening day was Japan’s Yuichi Sugita, who defeated Austrian Jurij Rodionov, 7-5 6-3.

Just three matches were played on the opening day at the clay court Nordea Open in Sweden, as Italian Marco Cecchinato overcame fifth seed Richard Gasquet 6-2 5-7 6-3, surviving the Frenchman’s second set comeback with 11 aces in his pocket. He required two hours and 24 minutes to claim the victory over the former top 10 talent, speaking of the triumph post-match.

“I’m very happy for today because I beat Richard for the first time in my career,” Cecchinato said. “When I was young, he was my idol, so I’m very happy to beat him. “So many years he was in the Top 10. He was like me with the one-handed backhand, his forehand, good kick, good drop shot. “He was my idol for that, so I’m very happy with this match today.”

Elsewhere, German Yannick Hanfmann overcame Brazilian Thiago Montero 6-2 7-5, while Swedish wildcard Elias Ymer claimed his first tour level win since 2019 in front of home fans, overcoming Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-2 6-7(6) 6-4 after trailing by a break during the third.

“At home the energy is different. You want to give your best and, to be honest, I was close today to getting a win quickly. I was up 6-2, 5-3, serving at 30-Love,” Ymer said. “Today was a good day. Tennis is uncertain. He came back, credit to him and it was [about] the fighting spirit.”

HAMBURG EUROPEAN OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[8] Benoit Paire (FRA) defeated Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-6 RET
[LL] Sebastian Baez (ARG) defeated Corentin Moutet (FRA) 6-1 6-2
[WC] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) defeated Jaume Munar (ESP) 7-6 6-4
[Q] Thiago Seyboth Wild (BRA) defeated [WC] Nicola Kuhn (ESP) 1-6 6-1 6-2

HALL OF FAME OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

Denis Kudla (USA) defeated [6] Steve Johnson (USA) 7-6 3-6 6-4
[7] Jordan Thompson (AUS) defeated Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) 5-4 RET
[8] Kevin Anderson (RSA) defeated Illya Marchenko (UKR) 7-5 6-3
Jenson Brooksby (USA) defeated Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 7-5 6-3
Yuichi Sugita (JPN) defeated Jurij Rodionov (AUT) 7-5 6-3

NORDEA OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

Marco Cecchinato (ITA) defeated [5] Richard Gasquet (FRA) 6-2 5-7 6-3
[WC] Elias Ymer (SWE) defeated Taro Daniel (JPN) 6-2 6-7 6-4
Yannick Hanfmann (GER) defeated Thiago Montero (BRA) 6-2 7-5

Picture credit: ATP Tour