Ferrer Clinical In Eastbourne Opening Win

David Ferrer snapped a three-match losing streak to reach the second round at the Nature Valley International, beating qualifier Matteo Berrettini 7-5, 6-3 on Monday.

The former World No. 3, who suffered opening-round losses in each of his three ATP World Tour appearances on European clay in May, converted each of his five break point chances and won 75 per cent of second-serve return points to advance after 86 minutes. Ferrer is bidding to reach his second tour-level quarter-final of the season, after a semi-final run at the ASB Classic in January.

The 31-year-old will meet Mikhail Kukushkin or #NextGenATP Australian Alex de Minaur for a place in the last eight. Ferrer leads Kukushkin 7-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and is yet to meet 19-year-old De Minaur.

John Millman levelled his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Gilles Muller at 2-2 after a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 victory over the World No. 60.

Millman, who fell to Novak Djokovic in the Fever-Tree Championships first round last week, won 41 of 48 first-serve points and saved the only break point he faced en route to victory. Muller drops to 1-3 on grass this season after winning 11 of 13 matches on the surface in 2017.

In a meeting of former champions, 2015 titlist Denis Istomin overcame 2011 winner Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(4). Istomin, who improves to 17-7 in Eastbourne, notched his 10th match win of the season after two hours and 28 minutes. The World No. 91 will next face fourth seed Marco Cecchinato after reducing his FedEx ATP Head2Head series deficit against Seppi to 4-7.

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Did You Know?
Only three men have ever won back-to-back titles at this ATP World Tour 250 grass-court event. Richard Gasquet was the first to retain his title (2005-2006), before Ivo Karlovic (2007-2008) and Feliciano Lopez (2013-2014) also achieved the feat.