A STAR-studded Generali Open in Kitzbuhel, Austria kicked off mid-week with a host of top 30 players who were ousted from the US Open on show, whilst the BNP Paribas Tennis Championships got underway in Istanbul. Both tournaments had players who lasted as long as the fourth round at Flushing Meadows, meaning they had as little as 48 hours to fly to Europe and get on court for their first round encounters.

KEI RETURNS IN KITZBUHEL

The top seed in the Generali is Fabio Fognini, who opted to forgo playing in the United States, whilst another seed to earn a Round 1 bye was Diego Schwartzman who lost in the first round at Flushing Meadows.

There were a number of interesting results throughout the first round, with the biggest returnee, Kei Nishikori playing his first match since the US Open. Unfortunately for the Japanese star, his return was abruptly ended by rising Serbian, Miomir Kecmanovic who won in three sets, 4-6 6-4 6-2. He now goes on to play the improving Jordan Thompson who took down compatriot John Millman in three sets, 6-3 4-6 7-6 in what was only a couple of days turnaround for Thompson since exiting the US Open in the fourth round on Monday.

Other seeds who move through to the second round were Dusan Lajovic (third) and Nikoloz Basilashvili (fourth) who both had first round byes, as well as fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz and seventh seed Guido Pella. Austrian wildcard Sebastian Ofner will take on Schwartzman in the Round of 16 following a 6-7 6-4 7-6 epic triumph over Macedonia’s Radu Albot. At the other end of the draw, Swiss wildcard Marc-Andrea Huesler will face top seed Fognini in a tough challenge for the 303rd ranked 24-year-old. He made his way into the second win courtesy of a come-from-behind win over Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, 3-6 6-4 7-6.

Other winners from Round 1 included Argentinian qualifier, Federico Delbonis who upset compatriot Juan Ignacio Londero in a one-side 6-4 6-0 triumph, as well as Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez, German qualifier Maximilian Marterer, Serbian qualifier Laslo Djere, and Italian young gun Jannik Sinner.

For Sinner, it was his first match on clay in 14 months, and coming up against German Philipp Kohlschreiber – who is a two-time past winner of the Generali Open and actually lives in Kitzbuhel – it was always going to be tough. But Sinner made it look easy, winning 6-3 6-2 to book a spot in the second round against Djere.

“Obviously, it has not been easy for both of us,” Sinner said post-match. “We played the US Open one week ago. “We are maybe still jetlagged. “It has not been easy. “I have not been playing on clay for more than one year, so it is a little bit different… I tried to push from the back [of the] court and tried to play my game. “Today, I am very happy.”

GARCIA FORCED TO WORK, BUT SURVIVES FIRST-UP ENCOUNTER

Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, fresh off her third round appearance at the Australian Open – and upset win over Karolina Pliskova – is through to the second round at Istanbul after defeating Turkish wildcard, Cagla Buyukakcay. Garcia dropped the second set to love, but won 6-4 0-6 7-5 in two hours and 31 minutes. She was seeded fourth at the tournament, with top two seeds, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Rebecca Peterson having first round byes.

It was a promising first round for the seeds, with third seed Polona Hercog defeating another Turkish wildcard in Berfu Cengiz, leaving the home nation without a representative in the second round. The Slovenian won 6-2 6-3 to advance through to the second round, while unseeded Russian Margarita Gasparyan took just 64 minutes to send the third Turkish talent, Pemra Ozgen home 6-2 6-0 and face Peterson in the Round of 16.

Other seeds to advance were sixth seed Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck and eighth seed Japanese talent Misaki Doi who both enjoyed good wins over Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova and Australian qualifier Ellen Perez respectively. The news was not as good for seventh seed Kazakh, Zarina Diyas who fell to in-form Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, while fifth seed Heather Watson was forced to retire against Sara Sorribes Tormo in the fifth game of their first round match.

In other Round 1 results, rising Italian talent Jasmine Paolini, Spaniard Paula Badosa and Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova all won on the opening day. Meanwhile on the second day of Round of 32 results, unseeded hopes, Tereza Martincova, Danka Kovinic and Patricia Maria Tig all won, as did Canadian qualifier, Eugenie Bouchard. The world number 272 won in 96 minutes against Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-4 to continue her rise up the rankings in the hope of a top 200 berth ahead of Roland Garros.