
Three seeds progressed in Noumea, New Caledonia, but two departed in a busy day of tennis.
The French suffered mixed fortunes, as top seed Adrian Mannarino, Julien Benneteau, and youngster Quentin Halys all won in straight sets. Mathias Bourgue was beaten by Benneteau, and Maxime Janvier by Mannarino, as their runs came to a predictable end. What was more of a shock was the exit of Edouard Roger-Vasselin, as the veteran was beaten by Marco Trungelliti, a player who typically earns most of his success of clay. Yet the Argentinian defeated Roger-Vasselin 7-6, 6-4.
Irishman James McGee picked up his first big win of the season, as he beat fifth seed Blaz Rola in three tough sets, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5. After a good start to last season McGee’s form somewhat tailed of later in the year. There was no such trouble for second seed Alejandro Falla, who this time managed to play consistent tennis throughout against Tristan Lamasine. Falla had dropped the first set 6-1 in his first round match against Mitchell Kreuger of the United States, but this time dropped just four games in the match, winning 6-2, 6-2. Local sixth seed Jordan Thompson made short work of American Connor Smith, winning 7-6, 6-2.
Thursday sees some enticing match-ups, (picks in bold)
Adrian Mannarino vs Janes McGee
Quentin Halys vs Daniel Brands
Julien Benneteau vs Alejandro Falla
Jordan Thompson vs Marco Trungelliti