On the first day of the inaugural edition of the Cordoba Open, Argentines, rightfully, stole the show. Two of the three home favourites in action on Monday advanced as qualifier Pedro Cachin and eighth seed Guido Pella advanced.

Cachin earned his first tour-level victory 6-4, 6-4 against Brit Cameron Norrie, who reached the ASB Classic final in Auckland (l. to Sandgren) to start the year. Cachin had been 0-2 in tour-level matches, but won 92 per cent of his first-serve points (23/25) and stayed steady as Norrie grew frustrated.

The 23-year-old will face fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain for a place in the quarter-finals.

Pella broke Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi four times, including thrice in the second set, to improve to 2-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 6-1, 6-3. The 28-year-old Argentine awaits the winner of Chile’s Christian Garin and Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain.

Tunisian Malek Jaziri won nearly half of his first-serve return points (46%) against Carlos Berlocq to keep the Argentines from going unbeaten, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4). Jaziri will next meet Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas or Argenine qualifier Facundo Bagnis.

In other singles action, Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene setup a second-round meeting with top seed Fabio Fognini by dismissing German Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 6-4. Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego saved all three break points and beat Spaniard Pablo Andujar, a four-time clay-court ATP Tour titlist, 6-3, 6-2.

Three-time semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame France’s brightest #NextGenATP hope on Monday at the Open Sud de France.

Tsonga came back from a set down to eliminate 20-year-old Ugo Humbert 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in Montpellier. Tsonga broke Humbert at 5/5 in the second-set tie-break before evening the first-round contest.

The 33-year-old, who’s still on the comeback from knee surgery last April, broke in the opening game of the decider as well. Tsonga, No. 210 in the ATP Rankings, improved to 5-2 on the young season and will next meet fourth-seeded countryman Gilles Simon, who received a first-round bye.

Although Tsonga has reached three semi-finals in Montpellier, he has never played for the ATP Tour 250 title. Each time – in 2010, 2017 and 2018 – he’s fallen in the semi-finals to the eventual champion.

Countryman and sixth seed Jeremy Chardy routed lucky loser Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain 6-1, 6-1 in only 47 minutes. Chardy will meet French qualifier Antoine Hoang or Belgian Steve Darcis in round two.

Marcel Granollers prevailed after three tie-break sets against Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who turns 40 on 28 February, 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 7-6(5). The Barcelona native next meets #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

One year after reaching his first ATP Tour final at the Sofia Open, Marius Copil returned to the Bulgarian capital with an impressive victory on Monday.

The 2018 runner-up (l. to Basic) rallied from a set down to beat Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour and 47 minutes, landing 11 aces to overcome the former World No. 3 for the first time in three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings. Copil, who did not drop a set en route to the 2018 championship match, will meet sixth seed Fernando Verdasco or Bulgarian qualifier Alexandar Lazarov for a quarter-final spot. The 28-year-old is yet to meet Verdasco or Lazarov at tour-level.

Last year’s semi-finalist Wawrinka (l. to Basic) drops to 3-3 at tour-level this season, following his run to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open quarter-finals (l. to Bautista Agut) and a second-round loss to Milos Raonic at the Australian Open. Wawrinka will now travel to Rotterdam ahead of next week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament; the first ATP 500 event of the season.

Wawrinka looked secure on serve throughout the first set, winning four of his five service games to love to place pressure on his opponent. The 33-year-old Swiss secured the only break of serve in the sixth game, breaking to love with a driven cross-court backhand before clinching the set after just 23 minutes.

Both Copil and Wawrinka failed to convert multiple break-point chances early in the second set, with a tie-break required to decide the outcome of the set. At 5/5, Copil capitalised on a mistimed backhand from his opponent to earn set point, before forcing Wawrinka into a forehand error to level the match.

Copil soon earned his first service break of the match at 1-1 in the third set, capitalising on another loose backhand error from Wawrinka to take the lead for the first time. The Romanian held his nerve throughout the third set, converting his third match point with a powerful serve out wide to claim victory.

Matthew Ebden needed a final-set tie-break to join Copil in the second round. The World No. 45 defeated 17-year-old Bulgarian wild card Adrian Andreev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5) in two hours and 19 minutes to book a meeting with 2016 champion Roberto Bautista Agut.

Did You Know?
Copil earned the two biggest wins of his career to reach the Swiss Indoors final (l. to Federer) last year. Ranked No. 93 in the ATP Rankings, Copil defeated Top 10 players Marin Cilic and Alexander Zverev en route to the championship match, becoming the lowest-ranked Basel finalist since No. 100 Patrick McEnroe in 1994.

One year ago, Lloyd Harris was hovering outside the Top 300 and fighting to climb the ATP Rankings on the former Futures circuit.

What a difference a year makes. On Sunday, Harris blasted to his third ATP Challenger Tour title, dominating the field in Launceston, Australia. The 21-year-old did not drop a set all week and would secure a 6-2, 6-2 win over Lorenzo Giustino in the final.

With the victory, Harris made his big breakthrough, surging into the Top 100 for the first time. It was a historic achievement, as the Cape Town native joined World No. 5 Kevin Anderson in the elite club, marking the first time multiple South Africans are in the Top 100 in 15 years.

“I am obviously super happy to break into the Top 100,” said Harris. “I think this is a huge milestone for any professional tennis player. I am really excited to see what I can achieve in the near future.”

Harris makes his debut on Monday at a career-high No. 100 in the ATP Rankings. The last time two players from South Africa featured in the Top 100 was 23 February 2004, when Wayne Ferreira was at No. 47 and Wesley Moodie at No. 88.

“This win definitely helps to get one step closer to where I want to be: a Top 100 player consistently. I want to break into the Top 50 next. That’s my new goal. I’ll be working hard for that this year.”

Another ?? in the Top 100 ? Congrats @lloydharris63 https://t.co/cNaXU7GgKz

— Kevin Anderson (@KAndersonATP) February 4, 2019

Akin to Anderson, Harris boasts a big game predicated on an imposing serve and giant groundstrokes. Just six months ago, he cracked the Top 200 with his maiden title in Lexington, USA, and would inch further ahead with a second crown in Stockton in October. 

The 21-year-old capped his 2018 season with a successful stint on the ATP Tour, earning his first tour-level match win over Gael Monfils at the Chengdu Open. He concluded his campaign with a trip to Milan for the Next Gen ATP Finals, appearing as the first alternate.

Harris returns to the ATP Tour in February, competing in qualifying at both the New York Open and Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.