JUST one seed across the two ATP 250 tournaments in Sardinia and Cologne survived the first day of Round of 16 action, with three seeds falling at Sardinia and one at Cologne. It was also not a successful outing for the homegrown players on court, with no Italian or German talents winning through to the quarter finals on their home soil.

At Cologne, it was Austrian Dennis Novak that downed fourth seed Benoit Paire, coming away with victory in just 64 minutes, 6-3 6-4. Novak’s ability to win off the return was one of his most effective assets, winning 47 per cent of return point compared to Paire’ss 28 per cent and also winning 74 per cent of points of his first serve. Meanwhile, Hubert Hurkacz was the lone seed who managed victory, downing wildcard Mischa Zverev 6-4 6-3. With four aces and a winning rate of 76 per cent off his first serve, Hurkacz also saved seven of eight break points and overall was far more consistent. 

Meanwhile, qualifier Lloyd Harris defeated Steve Johnson in a huge two-hour and 13-minute match, 7-6 7-6. While Harris was a fraction more consistent throughout, Johnson was relentless and made the most of his serve, only winning two less points off his first serve than Harris and hitting six aces to Harris’ 12. In the last game, the remaining German player was qualifier Oscar Otte, defeated by Moldovan Radu Albot in the lone three-setter of the day 6-4 5-7 7-5. While Otte made a strong fight back in the second set and was more clinical off his service games, Albot made the most of Otte’s lower efficiency on the second serve.

COLOGNE ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[Q] Lloyd Harris (RSA) defeated Steve Johnson (USA) 7-6 7-6
Dennis Novak (AUT) defeated [4] Benoit Paire (FRA) 6-3 6-4
[6] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) defeated [WC] Mischa Zverev (GER) 6-4 6-3
Radu Albot (MDA) defeated [Q] Oscar Ott (GER) 6-4 5-7 7-5

At Sardinia, two Serbians headed through to the second round while home hope Lorenzo Sonego and a duo of Spaniards in Pablo Andujar and Roberto Carballes Baena were sent packing. Laslo Djere, Jiri Vesely and Federico Delbonis defeated the trio of seeds in Dusan Lajovic, Sonego and Andujar respectively, with the latter two not going down without a fight in three sets. Djere came away with an impressive straight sets win over compatriot Lajovic, but it did not come easy in an hour and 42 minutes. Djere was marginally more consistent and effective on both the service and return games with 59 and 49 per cent efficiency compared to Lajovic’s 51 and 41 per cent respectively. 

Lucky loser Danilo Petrovic was the second Serbian to head through to the next round, downing Carballes Baena in just under an hour and a half, while Carballes Baena’s compatriot in Andujar was defeated by Delbonis in an intriguing 5-7 7-6 6-4 outing. Meanwhile, Vesely ousted Sonego in the remaining match, 6-4 3-6 6-1.

SARDINIA ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

Laslo Djere (SRB) defeated [2] Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-4 7-5
Jiri Vesely (CZE) defeated [5] Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 6-4 3-6 6-1
Federico Delbonis (ARG) defeated [6] Pablo Andujar (ESP) 5-7 7-6 6-4
Danilo Petrovic (SRB) defeated Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) 6-1 6-4