It was a good day for Americans in Delray Beach, as two of the home contingent accounted for the top two seeds. Austin Krajicek won when Kevin Anderson retired after the top seed had lost the first set on a tie-break, and second seed Bernard Tomic was beaten by Rajeev Ram 7-6, 6-1.
When the draw was announced, Austin Krajicek was likely cursing his luck that he had been placed in the same bracket as Kevin Anderson. Yet Krajicek, who fell out of the Top 100 this week, earned his luck, winning a place in the second round when Anderson retired 6-7 down. It marks a bad start to the year for South African, after he had enjoyed the best year of his career in 2015. He was forced to retire from the Australian Open with a knee injury, but it was a shoulder injury that curtailed his chances at this event. Anderson had led 3-0 before Krajicek levelled with Anderson’ service notably struggling, and the top seed decided enough was enough after losing the tie-break.
Bernard Tomic had no such excuses against Rajeev Ram however, as the American scored a huge shock over the Australian second seed. Ram is best known for his exploits on grass, having won the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport twice. A number of his points responsible for his Top 100 ranking are as a result of having won the second of his two titles in 2015. Yet he proved his worth on the hard-courts as he edged a tie-break. Tomic then lost his composure, as Ram raced away with the second set, breaking twice and losing just two points on serve. Tomic’s season is off to a slow start. After a reasonable run at the Australian Open, Tomic lost early on the South American clay, before heading north for this event.
Steve Johnson was another home winner, as the sixth seed put his defeat to Taylor Fritz swiftly behind him. Johnson banished the ghosts of that two tie-break loss, edging a thrilling decider ten-eight after he and John Millman had split the opening two sets. The final score was 6-3, 5-7, 7-6.
Dennis Novikov ensured that the Americans did not remain perfect in the daytime matches however, as he lost 6-2, 6-2 to fellow qualifier Tatsuma Ito. Finally Damir Dzumhur gained revenge for his defeat in Memphis last week, as he beat Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-2.
