Madrid - ATP first round complete

The first round of the men’s draw in Madrid is complete, and four second round matches were also played.

Mutua Madrid Open - an ATP Masters 1000 category tournament, on Red Clay, in Madrid, Spain,  4-11 May 2019.

Defending champion:

Alexander Zverev (2) who defeated Dominic Thiem (5) 6-4 6-4

First round:

- Stan Wawrinka v qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 

This would be their first meeting, and the current rankings, Wawrinka at #34 and Herbert at #41, suggested a tight contest on the cards.

Wawrinka served first and a love game was just the start he wanted, a forehand winner and strong serving central.

Herbert struggled, missing with an overhead, then passed by a Wawrinka backhand return. At the net, Herbert was belted by a Swiss forehand and faced two break points. A wayward French forehand delivered the break and Wawrinka led 2-0. Down 0-30 in his next service game, Wawrinka hit two serves which didn’t come back, then an ace to create a game point. Herbert hit the net with a backhand and the Swiss triple major champion extended the lead to 3-0.

Herbert finally registered on the scoreboard at 1-3, a half volley winner superb, but Wawrinka kept the break advantage through to 5-2, his forehand continuing to cause damage, and asked Herbert to hold and stay in the set. 

Herbert’s serve volley tactic had not paid dividends to this point, and it failed again as Wawrinka passed him with a forehand down the line. 0-15. A double fault complicated things further. Two set points arrived after another Wawrinka forehand winner. One disappeared, but Wawrinka took the set 6-2 when Herbert hit a forehand out of court.

Wawrinka won an incredible 10 of 11 points on his second serve in the first set.

In his first four service games of set two, Wawrinka surrendered a mere three points. In his first three service games, Herbert gave away just two points. After those seven games, Wawrinka led 4-3. Then we saw an epic game, where Herbert wasted two game points, one with a backhand error, the next with a double fault. A break point came when Wawrinka struck a sensational forehand return cross court winner. Herbert saved it at the net. He also saved a second break chance when Wawrinka couldn’t return a serve into play. The third break point however  was converted, sadly when Herbert double faulted.

Wawrinka served at 5-3 for the match. Three match points were gathered up following an error on return of serve, and a pair of French forehand mistakes. Herbert saved one with a withering backhand drive down the line winner. Wawrinka then missed with a sloppy forehand. When Herbert hit the net with a forehand, the match was over.

Stan Wawrinka won the match in style 6-2 6-3.

- Jeremy Chardy defeated qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2 4-6 7-5

- Diego Schwartzman defeated Marco Cecchinato (16) 6-0 4-6 6-1

- Marton Fucsovics defeated David Goffin 6-4 7-5

- Fabio Fognini (10) defeated Kyle Edmund 6-4 6-3

- John Millman defeated Steve Johnson 7-6(5) 7-6(5)

- Lucky loser Adrian Mannarino defeated Joao Sousa 7-5 5-7 6-1

- Lucas Pouille defeated Borna Coric (13) 6-3 7-5

- Qualifier Hubert Hurkacz defeated Alex de Minaur 6-3 6-4

- Wildcard David Ferrer defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 4-6 6-4

- Qualifier Hugo Dellien defeated Gilles Simon 4-6 6-1 7-6(4)

- Guido Pella defeated Daniil Medvedev (12) 6-2 1-6 6-3

Second round:

- Novak Djokovic (1) defeated qualifier Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-2

- Marin Cilic (9) defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6 6-3 6-4

- Roger Federer (4) defeated Richard Gasquet 6-2 6-3

- Dominic Thiem (5) defeated qualifier Reilly Opelka 6-7(2) 6-3 1-0 (retired)