Home-country favorite Alexander Shevchenko saved four set points in the second set before closing out a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (12) win over Serbia's Laslo Djere in the first round of the Almaty (Kazakhstan) Open on Tuesday.
Djere had a point to level the match while serving at 5-4 in the second set, but Shevchenko rallied to win the game.
The players' serves dominated the subsequent tiebreaker, with each player winning 11 of his first 12 service points. Djere squandered three more set points and Shevchenko
didn't take advantage of his first four match points. Djere finally lost another service point to give Shevchenko a 13-12 lead, and the Kazakhstani player sealed the match on the next point.
In the day's other matches, fifth-seeded Brandon Nakashima defeated Serbia's Hamad Medjedovic 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Australia's Rinky Hijikata got past Kazakhstan's Timofey Skatov 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3.
BNP Paribas Fortis European Open
U.S. qualifier Eliot Spizzirri never faced a break point while rolling to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Pedro Martinez in the first round at Brussels.
Spizzirri, 23, has won Challenger (second-tier) events this year in San Diego and Jinghan, China, helping him reach a career-high ranking of No. 105 last week. This week he is No. 111, while Martinez is No. 89.
Spizzirri won 27 of his 28 first-serve points, and he converted three of his four break-point opportunities.
Fifth-seeded Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France edged Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-4, but three other seeded players lost. France's Valentin Royer, a lucky loser from qualifying, topped sixth-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina 6-2, 6-3. The Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp beat seventh-seeded Joao Fonseca of Brazil 7-5, 7-6 (2), and Raphael Collignon downed eighth-seeded Zizou Bergs 6-4, 7-5 (5) in an all-Belgian matchup.
Also advancing were Argentina's Francisco Comesana and Belgian qualifier Gilles Arnaud Bailly.
BNP Paribas Nordic Open
In a first-round clash of Stockholm-born brothers, Elias Ymer defeated Mikael Ymer 6-2, 7-6 (4) in their hometown.
Elias Ymer, 29, is ranked 243rd in the world while Mikael Ymer, 27, is rated No. 617. The older brother finished with a 12-3 edge in aces and never lost his serve in the match.
Other opening-round winners were Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Poland's Kamil Majchrzak, Croatia's Marin Cilic and Italy's Matteo Berrettini.
--Field Level Media
