Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman beat Benoit Paire 6-4 1-6 6-1 after 1 hour and 41 minutes to advance to the second round of the BMW Open in Munich.
Schwartzman fended off 9 of the 13 break points he faced. The Argentine dropped his serve in the seventh game to trail 3-4, but he broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Schwartzman saved a break point in the ninth game before converting his second break point chance in the 10th game to close out the first set 6-4.
Paire got three breaks in the first, fifth and seventh games to open up a 4-1 lead. Schwartzman broke three times to seal the decisive set 6-1.
With this win Schwartzman draws level to 1-1 in his two head-to-head agianst Paire. The 26-year-old South American player will take on 2019 Houston champion Christian Garin for a place in the quarter final. The Chilean player broke four times to beat Yannick Maden 6-4 6-2 in 77 minutes.
Three-time Munich champion Phillip Kohlschreiber beat Andreas Seppi 6-2 7-5 in a battle between two veterans of the circuit to set up a second round match against Karen Khachanov.
Seppi held his first service game at 30, but Kohlschreiber broke twice in a row in the third and fifth games to seal the first set 6-2 after 29 minutes.
Seppi did not face any break points in the first ten games and earned a set point at 5-4. Kohlschreiber saved it before converting his second break point chance in the next game. The German player served out the second set in the 12th game.
Denis Kudla won 92 % of his first serve points and did not face a break point in his 6-4 6-3 win over Kyle Edmund. Kudla will face last week’s Budapest Hungarian Open champion Matteo Berrettini from Italy, who beat Denis Istomin 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
Edmund dropped his first service game to trail 2-4 in the opening set. Kudla earned an early break at the start of second set. The US player held his service games to take a 5-3 lead and broke serve again to seal the win on his first match point.
This year’s Monte-Carlo quarter finalist Guido Pella dropped just three points to cruise past Misha Zverev 6-2 6-1.
Martin Klizan beat Ernests Gulbis 6-3 7-5 setting up a second round match against Marco Cecchinato. This year’s Cordoba champion Juan Ignacio Londero edged past German Maximilian Marterer 6-2 4-6 6-2 setting up a second round match against 2018 Munich champion Alexander Zverev.
Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro eased past German Jan Lennard Struff 6-1 6-1 to secure his spot in the second round, where he will face Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics.
