After the excitement of Shanghai, the ATP Tour gathers for the run-up to Turin and their finals, with some places in the eight-man field still up for grabs, so points become a priority for some of those now appearing at a few lower-level events such as Stockholm, Brussels and Almaty, where this quest takes place.
I played really well today and it helped so much with this crowd, it was great. Leo Borg
They are all 250-level events, with the final Masters in Paris scheduled for the end of the month.
Currently in Stockholm, at the BNP Paribas Nordic Open, four matches were played on Monday with two notable results: the victory of Leo Borg and Jacob Fearnley, who both advanced to the second round.
Leo Borg, the 22-year-old son of five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg, won his second match on the ATP Tour when he comfortably defeated Austria’s Sebastain Ofner 6-3 6-4 and will meet Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the third seed from Canada, a former champion (2019).
The Swedish wildcard, ranked 633rd, needed 76 minutes to get his campaign underway on home soil and would no doubt be keen to emulate his father’s title win there in 1980 when he defeated John McEnroe.
“This is really special. My first victory in Stockholm is so special,” said Leo Borg. “I’ve really stepped up my game, so I’m really happy with my performance. I have the level, but consistency hasn’t been my biggest thing. I’ve really been working on my stuff, and I really stepped up today and showed myself and the tennis people that I really belong here.”
“I’ve been injured for a while and how today I managed to come back and show myself that I really belong here. It’s a good, positive thing. I just have to keep doing my thing.”
The young Swede has mainly competed on the ITF World Tennis Tour this year as he looks to rebuild towards a career-high of No. 334 in the world rankings and beyond.
“I played really well today and it helped so much with this crowd, it was great,” Borg added in his on-field interview. “I knew he had a big game, so I really had to play a lot better. But I really took a step forward today and I’m very happy with my performance. Yes, really good.”
Jacob Fearnley takes revenge
(Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images for LTA)
While Borg had a relaxed passage, Britain’s Jacob Fearnley had a game in hand but managed to beat fifth-seeded Tallon Greekpoor 6-3 6-7(6) 7-6(5) and avenge his defeat to the Dutchman at the same event last year.
“That was very tough. I thought it was quite comfortable until 5-3 [in the tiebreak] when I was serving for it, and I got a little tight,” Fearnley said in his on-court interview. “To be fair to Tallon, he competed hard and raised his level when he needed to. It was just a war to the end. Huge respect for Tallon, but glad it’s over.’
Fearnley will face the next of the two Ymer brothers who feature as wildcards in their home tournament.
In the other two matches on the opening day, Miomir Kecmanovic defeated sixth seed Alexandre Muller 64 6-1, while Sebastian Korda took out another seed, seventh, Alexei Popyrin 6-7(4) 6-1 6-3.
Reilly Opelka is again defeated by Benjamin Bonzi on the right
(Photo by Joris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
In Brussels at the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open, Benjamin Bonzi defeated the 6′ 11” American Reilly Opelka for the second time this season, on this occasion needing 70 minutes to inflict a 6-4 6-4 defeat.
“Of course it’s easier if you played against someone last week, and I knew how he would serve,” Bonzi said in his on-court interview. “But the conditions here are completely different than in Shanghai. In China it was much slower. Here it is quite fast. It is indoors, so its storage is much more efficient.”
“I’m very happy with the way I was able to return his serve and score the points when I managed to get the ball back into the court. It was a great first match here.”
Marcos Giron was the other winner of the first round on Monday. The American eased past Mattia Bellucci 6-3,6-4 to set up a meeting with fourth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Gabriel Diallo gets his campaign underway in Almaty
(Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan at the Almaty Open, last year’s finalist Gabriel Diallo, the seventh-seeded Canadian, made an impressive start by beating wild card Amur Omarkhanov 6-3 6-1 in 62 minutes.
James Duckworth also advances to the second round, having defeated fellow qualifier Ugo Blanchet 6-3 6-4.
In other action, Fabian Marozzsan defeated Luca Nardi 7-6(3) 6-3, while crafty Frenchman Corentin Moute edged past Bernard Tomic 6-1 7-6(9).
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