JUST four matches took place on the opening day of the 2020 Hamburg European Open, with former winner Gilles Simon bombing out in straight sets and three of the four qualifiers advancing to the Round of 16. Simon had lost in the qualifying stages to Pablo Cuevas, but earned a reprisal, only to lose to qualifying Czech Jiri Vesely in straight sets, 7-5 6-2. Vesely joined fellow qualifiers, Cuevas and Tommy Paul in the second round, along with fifth seed and 2019 Hamburg finalist, Andrey Rublev in the Round of 16.

In the one-hour and 44-minute match, Vesely served six aces and only one double fault to Simon’s three and five respectively, whilst the Czech won 75 per cent of his first serve points, and 52 per cent of his second serve points, Breaking five times to two throughout the contest, the world 72 proved too good fo the world number 54 to continue his great form in 2020 that saw him nab a title earlier in the year. Now he has to set his sights on a likely encounter with top seed, Daniil Medvedev who takes on Ugo Humbert tomorrow.

Also through on day one was Rublev who defeated American qualifier and Australian Open quarter finalist, Tennys Sandgren in straight sets, 6-3 6-3. The match lasted just 68 minutes as Rublev only dropped three points off his first serve, and dominated off Sandgren’s service, winning a massive 44 per cent of the points on his way to an impressive win.

“It was the best match I’ve played on clay this season,” Rublev said post-match. “Today, I was feeling good and I am really happy with my performance as Tennys is such a good player. “When I saw I was going to play him, I knew it was going to be a really tough match. “I was really preparing mentally. “In the end, I was able to control the match. “I like the atmosphere here, I enjoy being back and I’m grateful to have won my first-round match.”

Rublev is hoping to go one better than his 2019 final where he lost to Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Russian now takes on another American qualifier in Tommy Paul who managed to overcome a horror second set against South African Kevin Anderson, to win 6-4 0-6 6-4 in an hour and 56 minutes. Despite Anderson dominating on serve with 14 aces and 83 per cent of his first serve points, Paul managed to break twice – both at crucial moments in the match to secure the win in three sets.

In the final match of day one, Cuevas toppled unseeded American Taylor Fritz in a 6-4 6-2 upset. Despite being ranked 34 places lower than his 28th ranked opponent, the South American won 69 per cent of his first serve points and 56 per cent of his second serve points off a 70 per cent efficiency. He also broke four times to one in a match that lasted 80 minutes. Now the Uruguayan waits for the winner of second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Great Britain’s Daniel Evans in the Round of 16.