In the second day of the Us Open men’s singles qualifying, first round matches were completed with Radek Stepanek and Reilly Opelka finding convincing wins.
The veteran Stepanek scored an impressive 6-1 6-1 win on Croatian Franko Skugor, winning 52 out of the total 71 points played.
Instead, the 18 year-old Opelka came back from a set down to outlast Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who has been focusing on doubles in the last months. The American hit 14 aces and converted three of his four break points to win 3-6 6-4 6-3.
Also, Belgian sixth seed Steve Darcis eliminated the USA’s 19 year-old Tommy Paul 6-3 6-2 and the Russian Karen Khachanov defeated Bosnian Mirza Basic 6-4 6-4.
Other Americans who advanced were wild-card Christian Harrison, who saved two match points to beat Australian Luke Saville 4-6 6-0 7-5 and Jared Donaldson who beat Colombian Eduardo Struvay 6-3 6-4.
Germans Michael Berrer and Mischa Zverev both managed to win tough matches as the first knocked out American Stefan Kozlov 2-6 7-6(5) 6-2 and the second defeated former top-35 Andrey Golubev 6-3 3-6 6-1.
US OPEN Qualifying, Round 1:
R.Shane (USA) def K.Coppejans (BEL) 2-6 6-4 6-1
S.Darcis (BEL) def T.Paul (USA) 6-3 6-2
R.Opelka (USA) def E.Roger Vasselin (FRA) 3-6 6-4 6-3
A.Weintraub(ISR) def D.Nguyen (USA) 6-3 6-2
S.Bangoura (USA) def G.Lama (CHI) 6-2 6-1
N.Rubin (USA) def Y.Bai (CHN) 3-o ret’d
B.Kavcic (SLO) def A.Krajicek (USA) 7-5 7-6(3)
R.Stepanek (CZE) def F.Skugor (CRO) 6-1 6-1
J.Souza (BRA) def A.Whittington (AUS) 6-4 6-4
E.Lopez Perez (ESP) def M.Trungelliti (ARG) 6-3 3-6 6-1
T.De Bakker (NED) def D.Novak (AUT) 6-1 6-3
Y. Sugita (JPN) def A.Sidorenko (FRA) 6-2 6-3
D.Popko (KAZ) def H.Moriya (JPN) 6-3 6-4
G.Soeda (JPN) def M.Copil (ROU) 7-6(3) 6-3
V.Millot (FRA) def M.Bourgue (FRA) 3-6 6-3 6-2
A.Michon (FRA) def C.Lestienne (FRA) 7-6(3) 6-3
M.Bachinger (GER) def P.Sousa (POR) 6-2 6-3
K.Khachanov (RUS) def M.Basic (BIH) 6-4 6-4
C.Harrison (USA) def L.Saville (AUS) 4-6 6-0 7-5
J.Donaldson (USA) def E.Struvay (COL) 6-3 6-4
T.Kamke (GER) def J.Smith (AUS) 6-2 7-5
M.Berrer (GER) def S.Kozlov (USA) 2-6 7-6(5) 6-2
M.Zverev (GER) def A.Golubev (KAZ) 6-3 3-6 6-1
D.Lee (TPE) def J.Statham (NZL) 7-6(3) 6-3
S.Diez (CAN) def A.Van der Duim (NED) 6-1 6-0
A.Giannessi (ITA) def R.Ramanathan (IND) 7-5 6-1
M.Zekic (SRB) def A.Rublev (RUS) 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 6-4
I.Ivashka (BLR) def N.Kicker (ARG) 6-3 6-2
A.Menendez Maceiras (ESP) def A.Karatsev (RUS) 2-6 6-3 7-6(3)
J.Samper Montana (ESP) def P.Riba (ESP) 2-6 6-4 6-4
K.Kravchuk (RUS) def S.Napolitano (ITA) 6-3 6-4
S.Giraldo (COL) def M.Arevalo (ESA) 7-6(4) 7-6(5)
