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Jack Draper comfortably opened his Acapulco campaign with a straight sets defeat of Tommy Paul, the seventh seed at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel championships, an ATP 500 level event also known as the Mexico Open.
Definitely a really tricky match-up for me,. Dan is a guy that I know well, we have a lot of banter in the locker room and [he is a] guy whose game presents a lot of challenges Ben Shelton
The Briton took down the American 6-0 6-4 making the most of a series of errors emanating off the Dallas campion’s racket and his failure to capture Draper’s serve on the three break points he did raise in the opening game.
From that point Draper took immediately control to sweep through the opening set, completing it with in just under 30-minutes with a bagel.
Paul offered far more resistance in the second but couldn’t restore parity and push the match into a decider.
The set went with serve for nine games when Draper grabbed his chance to clinch a straight-sets victory on his first match point.
He will now take on Yoshihito Nishioka in the last 16. After the Japanese player, on a Lucky Loser ticket, defeated Portugal’s Nuno Borges 3-6 6-3 6-1.
Ben Shelton was tested by Dan Evans
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Later in the day, Dan Evans, the British No.2, was eliminated by another American, Ben Shelton 2-6 7-5 7-6(7).
In what was a thrilling encounter lasting two-hours and 45-minutes, Evans had much of the play, racing into an early lead but Shelton, the world No.17, fought back to win a tight second and force a dramatic decider which he took on his fifth match point.
“Definitely a really tricky match-up for me,” the 21-year-old Shelton said. “Dan is a guy that I know well, we have a lot of banter in the locker room and [he is a] guy whose game presents a lot of challenges.
“So to be able to come out of this first match here in Acapulco with a win after losing the first set is a big accomplishment for me.”
Evans served for the match in the decider after surviving three match points earlier in the set.
Shelton’s next opponent in Acapulco will be the Italian Matteo Arnaldi who upset the fourth seed, Taylor Fritz 6-4 4-6 6-3, converting four breaks in his two-hour 36-minute victory.
“I wasn’t playing my best tennis in the past few matches, so I just tried to get in and enjoy a bit,” Arnaldi said following his first win over a top ten player. “I love playing in these conditions, I love to do long matches and stay a lot on court. I love playing night matches. There were a few details that meant I was ready to play, and I just tried to enjoy it and play my best tennis. I think most of the time I did.”
Meanwhile Alex de Minaur, the Australian defending champion, seeded three for the occasion, made a perfect start to his tournament with a 6-2 6-1 win over Japan’s Taro Daniel.
Next up for the Aussie will be compatriot Sebastan Ofner, who clawed past Mexican wild card Ernesto Escobedo 6-7(6) 6-4 7-6(4) after three hours and four minutes.
In other action, Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic surged past Argentine wild card Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 4-6 6-3 6-1, while Italian qualifier Flavio Cotolli beat the struggling Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime 2-6 6-3 6-2 to set up a meeting with the fifth seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, a 6-3 6-4 winner over Russian Roman Safiullin.
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