Lorenzo Musetti beats qualifier Marc Polmans on Tuesday at Nur-Sultan.
Defending champion Millman through in three sets
#NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti recorded his first ATP Tour indoor match win on Tuesday at the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan.
Musetti knocked out Australian qualifier Marc Polmans 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in two hours and 19 minutes as he continues his push for a spot at the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held in Milan from 9-13 November.
The 19-year-old, who sits in sixth position in the ATP Race To Milan, has reached two ATP Tour semi-finals this year in Acapulco and Lyon (l. to Tsitsipas both times). He’ll next look to improve upon his 0-2 ATP Head2Head record against seventh-seeded Serbian Laslo Djere in the second round.
Fifth-seeded Australian John Millman bounced back from a 0-2 deficit in the deciding set to overcome Kazakhstani qualifier Dmitry Popko 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes and next challenges Jaume Munar of Spain. Millman beat Adrian Mannarino in last year’s Nur-Sultan final for his first tour-level crown.
Eighth seed Ilya Ivashka will face Kazakhstani wild card Timofey Skatov following a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer in one hour and 36 minutes. Belarusian Ivashka beat Mikael Ymer for his first ATP Tour trophy last month at the Winston-Salem Open, and is now 26-13 on the season.