Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain needed just 65 minutes to take down Italian fifth seed Flavio Cobolli in the first round of the Lexus Eastbourne Open on Tuesday in England.
Fearnley, ranked No. 51 in the world, won four ATP Challenger Tour titles last year, but he remains in search of his first ATP Tour win. He reached the quarterfinals last week at Queen’s Club in London and seeks more this week in his home country. On Tuesday, he won 25 of 35 first-service points (71.4 percent) and converted 5 of 9 break-point opportunities.
No. 8 seed Nuno Borges of Portugal was on the same path as Cobolli before pulling out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over British wild card Jack Pinnington Jones.
Lucky losers Billy Harris of Great Britain and Jenson Brooksby advanced in straight sets. Marcos Giron, Reilly Opelka and Australian James Duckworth also moved on to Round 2.
Mallorca Championships
No. 6 seed Gabriel Diallo of Canada fired 10 aces and outlasted a challenge from Serbian Laslo Djere 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in second-round action in Mallorca, Spain.
Diallo advanced to face Dutch fourth seed Tallon Griekspoor, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over qualifier Ethan Quinn. Diallo’s countryman, No. 2 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, had an easier time in beating France’s Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, he’ll face Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic, who saved 6 of 7 break points in his 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) win over Russia’s Roman Safiullin.
In the final matches of the first round, Spanish seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut rallied past Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, while qualifiers Brandon Holt and Australian Bernard Tomic also moved on in three sets.
