The top-seeded players Ugo Humbert, Jan-Lennard Struff and former champion Mirza Basich eased to the second round of Sofia Open 2022 qualifiers.
The 24-year-old left-handed Frenchman had no trouble against former world No. 10 Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) and won 6:3, 6:2 in 69 minutes in the first Center court match of the year. One break in the first set and two in the second proved enough for Humbert to advance.
The Frenchman’s opponent in the final qualifying round will be Filip Cristian Jianu. The Romanian won his place in the second round after winning dramatically against the Turkish Altug Celikbilek 6:1, 4:6, 7:6 (2) in two hours battle.
Sofia Open 20218 champion Mirza Bašić also eased to the next round after defeating Alexey Vatutin 7:5, 6:1. He will try to repeat his run in 2018 with a match against Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany). The second seeded German won Aziz Dugas (Tunisia) 6:3, 6:2.
One young Bulgarian – Piotr Nestorov, stole the show of the first day at Sofia Open 2022 after winning his debut ATP match. In a real battle, the local prodigy won Salvatore Caruso 7:6 (4), 6:4! On Monday, 19-year-old Nesterov will play Sweden’s Dragos Nicolae Madaras for a spot in the main draw.
The second Bulgarian player in the qualifying round – Alexander Donski, lost for a second year in a row to Andreas Seppi – 4:6, 2:6. The next opponent of the experienced Italian will be Geoffrey Blancaneaux. The Frenchman stopped Robin Haase (Netherlands) – 4:6, 6:1, 6:3.
The final matches of the Sofia Open 2022 qualifiers will be played on Monday.
