This year’s Rotterdam champion Gael Monfils knocked out Marin Cilic 6-3 4-6 6-0 after 1 hour and 45 minutes. Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Matthew Ebden 6-4 3-6 6-3.
The French star started the match with an immediate break at deuce, when Cilic sent a forehand wide. He held his next service games and sealed the first set with a double break in the ninth game on his second chance, when Cilic made another forehand error.
Monfils hit 13 winners to just 4 unforced errors and won 92 % of his first point points in the opening set.
Cilic fought back in the second set and saved a break point to hold his serve at deuce before breaking serve in the fifth game at love to take a 3-2 lead. The 2014 US Open champion saved three break points in the 10th game before holding serve at deuce to close out the second set 6-4.
Monfils dropped just five points in the third set and broke three times in a row to take a bagel win improving his perfect record in his head-to-head matches against Cilic. Monfils has won ten of his 12 matches played this year including a streak of six consecutive winning matches. He set up a second round match against Marcos Baghdatis.
“I think I stepped strong in the match. I have new goals, a new team and a new routine and obviously wins under my belt. Everything is going fine. I am just trying to keep doing what I am doing. Every day a little more to improve. I am trying to reach my goal of returning to the top 10 this year. The first game was key because I knew he is a player who plays with a lot of confidence. It was just a matter of me to step strong in the third set. I had this momentum going on his service game”,said Monfils.
Stefanos Tsitsipas followed up his triumph in Marseille with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 win over Matthew Ebden after one hour and 34 minutes in his first match in Dubai. Tsitsipas has won 92 % of his first serve points.
Ebden saved a break point to hold his service game at deuce in the third game. Tsitsipas earned his only break in the fifth game and held his service game at love to close out the first set 6-4. Ebden got his first break in the sixth game to clinch the second set 6-3. After an early trade of breaks in the second and third games Tsitsipas earned his second break in the sixth game at love to wrap up the third set.
Tsitsipas will face Egor Gerasimov, who edged Robin Haase 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5).
“After winning in Marseille I had to take the flight next day knowing that I am going to have to play the day after. I spent six hours on the plane. I arrived at 2 am in the morning, then I had to play the same day. I don’t know if my level was because of that, but I was expecting a little bit better today”, said Tsitsipas.
Borna Coric had to dig deep to beat Jiri Vesely 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-4) after 2 hours and 49 minutes.
