A FRESH face on the ATP Tour is making waves on debut, already through to the third round at Delray Beach, while some eye-opening performances in Marseille have completed the first round and some of the second round.

DELRAY BEACH OPEN – DELRAY BEACH, UNITED STATES:

Winning back-to-back matches at his debut tournament, Brandon Naskashima is a name to keep in mind for the future with the 18-year-old having officially turned professional this year. Ranked 294th in the world, Nakashima defeated Cameron Norrie in straight sets, 7-5 6-2 having earned a place in the second round following a huge upset win over Czech Jiri Vesely. His Round of 16 appearance is a welcome return after a Round of 32 exit at Cleveland on the Challenger Tour. Against Norrie, Nakashima had an inconsistent serve with just 51 per cent efficiency, but was better in the rallies, winning both his first and second serve points 75 and 67 per cent of the time. He broke four times to one and had a high return rating with his ability to win greater than 40 per cent off both of Norrie’s first and second serves. He is still developing his game, but seems at home in the United States and now enters the third round of his first ever ATP Tour tournament.

Nakashima takes on Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, who in the second round, made light work of American qualifier, Noah Rubin 6-1 6-2. In other results, South Korean Soonwoo Kwon continued his solid form this year, downing another American Ryan Harrison, 6-4 3-6 7-6 to see up a Round of 16 clash with fourth seed, Reilly Opelka. The big serving American was able to outlast compatriot Mackenzie McDonald who earned a main draw spot off a protective ranking.

ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

Y. Nishioka (JPN) defeated [Q] N. Rubin (USA) 6-1 6-2
S. Kwon (KOR) defeated [WC] R. Harrison (USA) 6-4 3-6 7-6
[WC] B. Nakashima (USA) defeated [Q] C. Norrie (GBR) 7-5 6-2
[4] R. Opelka (USA) defeated M. McDonald (USA) 6-3 6-4

OPEN 13 PROVENCE – MARSEILLE, FRANCE:

Greek star, Stefanos Tsitsipas sent a message to the rest of the Open 13 Provence contenders with an impressive straight sets win over up-and-comer Mikael Ymer of Sweden. Tsitsipas won 6-1 6-3 as one of three Round of 16 matches that took place yesterday, winning through to the last eight and earning an extra rest. It took the world number six just 71 minutes to roll past Ymer, recording a massive 88 per cent of his first serve points and 67 per cent of his second serve points, only dropping nine points in total and not even giving the Swede a break point opportunity. Tsitsipas on the other hand, broke four times from eight opportunities and restricted Ymer’s serve to just 50 and 44 per cent for his first and second serve percentages, looking incredibly strong as he bounced through to the final eight at Marseille.

Now Tsitsipas takes on the in-form Vasek Pospisil with the Canadian continuing his terrific 2020 season with a straight sets win over eight seed Pole, Hubert Hurkacz 6-3 6-4. Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik also won through to the final eight win a come-from-behind victory over sixth seed Frenchman, Benoit Paire who failed again on home soil. Bublik will play the winner of Denis Shapovalov and Marin Cilic in the next round. In the first round results, seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime backed up his final appearance at Rotterdam by winning through to the next stage here to face Pierre-Hugues Herbert. He was another winner yesterday, while in the final Round of 32 match to be completed, Belarusian Egor Gerasimov booked a Round of 16 date with David Goffin after downing Austrian qualifier, Dennis Novak.

ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[2] S. Tsitsipas (GRE) defeated M. Ymer (SWE) 6-1 6-3
A. Bublik (KAZ) defeated [6] B. Paire (FRA) 3-6 6-4 6-4
V. Pospisil (CAN) defeated [8] H. Hurkacz (POL) 6-3 6-4

ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[7] F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN) defeated S. Travaglia (ITA) 6-7 7-6 6-3
P. Herbert (FRA) defeated M. Kukushkin (KAZ) 7-6 6-4
E. Gerasimov (BLR) defeated [Q] D. Novak (AUT) 7-6 6-3