Frances Tiafoe rallied from a set and a break down to beat Dusan Lajovic 2-6 7-5 6-0 reaching the second round at the Millennium Open in Estoril.
Tiafoe saved two break points at 0-2 in the second set. The US player won 12 of the last 15 games to reach the second round.
Lajovic broke twice in the first and seventh games to win the opening set 6-2. The Serbian player went up a 2-0 lead with a break in the first game of the second set. Tiafoe broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2.
Both players traded breaks in the fifth and sixth games to draw level to 3-3 and held their service games until the 12th game when Tiafoe earned the decisive break to seal the second set 7-5.
Tiafoe broke three times to cruise through to a bagel win in the third set.
“I am not feeling very well. I am a little bit under the weather. It was touh for me to move or breathe and stuff like that. The physio saved me today. He took me in there, down a set and a break, and I started feeling a bit better”, said Tiafoe.
Tiafoe will face Nuno Borges, who advanced to the second round after Pablo Andujar retired from the match when he was trailing 4-6 0-3. Soonwoo Kwon edged past Benoit Paire 6-4 7-5. Kwon earned his first break in the ninth game and served out the first set after saving four break points in the 12th game. Both players traded breaks in the second and third games of the second set. After saving eight break points across three service games Kwon earned the decisive break in the 11th game to seal the second set 7-5.
