DALLAS : Top seed Taylor Fritz survived a stern challenge from fellow American Marcos Giron to advance to the second round of the Nexo Dallas Open with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(1) victory on Tuesday.
Fritz fired 21 aces to Giron’s nine and won 81% of points on his first serve, but struggled to convert chances on return, breaking serve just twice from 10 opportunities before prevailing in the deciding tiebreak.
Second seed Ben Shelton of the United States moved through more comfortably, beating Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-4, while two seeded players bowed out.
Britain’s Jack Pinnington Jones routed fourth seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-2, 6-2, and Croatia’s Marin Cilic edged sixth-seeded American Learner Tien 7-5, 7-6(4).Cilic’s win marked the 600th ATP Tour victory of his career, making the 37-year-old only the second active player to reach the milestone after Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
He also surpassed Goran Ivanisevic to become the most successful Croatian in tour-level wins.Elsewhere, Americans Aleksandar Kovacevic and Alex Michelsen advanced alongside Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.
In the final match of the night, defending champion Denis Shapovalov of Canada, seeded seventh, cruised past Spanish qualifier Rafael Jodar 6-1, 6-2.
