Italian 22-year-old Matteo Berrettini followed up his ATP maiden title in Gstaad with a 1-6 6-3 6-4 win over Gilles Simon in the first round of the Generali Open ATP 250 tournament in Kitzbuhel. Berrettini took a re-match against the Frenchman, who recently beat the Italian player in three sets at this year’s edition of Wimbledon.
Simon went up a double break in the second and fourth games at deuce to win the first set 6-1. Berrettini had to save two break points in the first game of the second set before getting the only break in the second game of the second set to win it 6-3.
Simon saved two break points in the first game of the third set before breaking serve in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Berrettini broke back at 15 in the third game and won four consecutive games including a break in the fifth game to take a 4-2 lead. The Italian rising star, who has moved up to a career-high of world number 54, hel his next service games at 15 to win the third set 6-4.
Berrettini set up a second round match against Rudi Albot, who beat Jozef Kovalik 6-1 6-4.
Last week’s Gstaad semifinalist Laslo Djere beat last week’s Hamburg champion Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3 6-3 in 72 minutes. Baasilashvili was too tired after winning his maiden ATP title in Germany and was dropped his serve four times from the ten break points he faced. Djere was broken only once at the start of the second set, but he reeled off four consecutive games from 2-3 down to win the first set 6-3. Both players traded breaks at the start of the second set en route to drawing level to 2-2. Djere earned another break in the sixth game to open up a 4-2 lead. The Serbian player closed out the second set with a hold of serve to reach the round of 16.
Qualifier Martin Klizan beat Sebastian Ofner 6-2 6-4 in 59 minutes. The Slovakian player converted on three of his five brak points. He got a double break in the third and seventh games to win the first set 6-2. Ofner fended off two break points in the first game of the second set. Klizan got a break in the ninth game and held serve at 15 to seal the match in the 10th game.
