NORTH CAROLINA: The first ATP Tour match victory of Patrick Kypson’s career was a big one.
Kypson, a 24-year-old North Carolina native ranked 155th in the world, upset fifth-seeded Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Monday in first-round action of the Delray Beach (Fla.) Open.
Kypson made the tournament field as a wild card. He had been 0-3 in tour-level events before Monday, including a first-round defeat last month at the Australian Open.
In other action, sixth-seeded Matteo Arnaldi of Italy avoided an upset by overcoming an early deficit to knock off Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Arnaldi finished with a whopping 21 aces to punch his ticket to the second round. Nishioka had zero, and he also hit just 17 winners compared to Arnaldi’s 50.
Meanwhile, Nuno Borges of Portugal and Frenchman Constant Lestienne swept their respective opponents. Borges defeated lucky loser Gabriel Diallo of Canada 6-4, 7-6 (1), and Lestienne cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Australian Aleksandar Vukic.
Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor put on a show in front of a friendly crowd, saving two match points in the 12th game of the third set before pulling off a 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3) win over Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Griekspoor was on the ropes trailing 6-5, but he battled back and eventually forced a tiebreaker, where he raced out to a 3-0 lead before taking the first-round match. In other action, a pair of Canadians prevailed in straight sets.
Felix Auger-Aliassime beat qualifier Maxime Cressy of the United States 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) and Milos Raonic, playing on a protected ranking, topped Dutch wild card Jesper de Jong 7-6 (5), 6-4. Belgian qualifier David Goffin also moved on, ousting Dino Prizmic, a wild card from Croatia.
Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka and Serbian seventh seed Laslo Djere both shook off opening-set losses to advance to the second round in Buenos Aires.
Wawrinka knocked off Argentine Pedro Cachin 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2, while Djere rallied to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory vs. Croatian wild card Marin Cilic. Wild card Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina was also triumphant, completing a 6-3, 7-6 (1) sweep of Germany’s Daniel Altmaier.
Sixth-seeded Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry rolled past Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain 6-4, 6-1.
