Spain’s Fernando Verdasco advanced to the Sofia Open 2022 second round. He stunned the 6th seeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in their first game in “Arena Aremeec” 7:6 (1), 7:5 in an hour and 37 minutes.
It was Basilashvili’s 15th defeat in the first round of an ATP Tournament this season. He became the first seed player that leave ATP 250 Sofia Open.
The win was just fifth for the season for the Spanish veteran, former world N7.
Verdasco’s next opponent is Australian Aleksandar Vukic, as the winner will eventually be the first seed and two-time Sofia Open champion Jannik Sinner next.
Jan-Lennard Struff’s powerful serving helped the former World No. 29 complete a 4:6, 6:3, 6:2 comeback win against Dusan Lajovic. The German won 90 per cent (43/48) of points behind his first serve against Lajovic on the way to extending his ATP Head2Head series lead against the Serbian to 3-0.
Struff achieved career-high No. 29 after reaching 1st ATP Masters 1000 QF at 2020 Cincinnati but fell out of the Top 100 in June 2022 after suffering a right foot injury.
Struff next faces fellow qualifier Ugo Humbert, with both players chasing their maiden tour-level quarter-final of 2022.
