Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi held off Austrian wild card Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-6 (9) Tuesday in the first round of the Millennium Estoril Open in Estoril, Portugal.
Thiem, the former world No. 3, was aiming for his first win of the season as he continues to come back from a tear in his right wrist last summer. Thiem also lost last week to Australian John Millman in the first round of the Serbia Open.
Bonzi took a 6-5 lead in a tightly contested second-set tiebreaker, but Thiem saved match point. Bonzi responded by saving three set points — down 7-6, 8-7 and 9-8 — before taking control the rest of the way.
Another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, had a solid performance and downed American seventh seed Tommy Paul 7-5, 6-2. Gasquet saved five of six break points and broke Paul’s serve four times in eight opportunities.
Other winners Tuesday included sixth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain, eighth seed Sebastian Korda of the U.S., Sebastian Baez of Argentina, lucky loser Carlos Taberner of Spain, Uruguayan qualifier Pablo Cuevas and Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien.
BMW Open
American Maxime Cressy fired seven aces and won 23 of 29 first-service points (79.3 percent) to take down British sixth seed Daniel Evans in Munich.
Two other Americans played Tuesday and found themselves on the losing end of three-set matches. France’s Hugo Gaston outlasted Marcos Giron 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5 in two hours and 33 minutes, while Belarusian Ilya Ivashka beat Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours and 29 minutes.
Germany’s Oscar Otte was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Serbian qualifier Marko Topo.
–Field Level Media
