Ferrer, Milan Hopefuls Advance In Antwerp

Fifth seed David Ferrer saved a match point and fought for more than two hours and 20 minutes on Tuesday to advance at the European Open. The Spaniard beat 25-year-old Italian Stefano Travaglia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) to move into the second round in Antwerp.

Ferrer was down 30/40 while serving at 4-5 in the third set but won three consecutive points to hold. The 35-year-old Ferrer, a titlist in Bastad earlier this year, will next face German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe or Belgian Steve Darcis.

#NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe bolstered his chances of reaching the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals next month in Milan by beating German Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4. Tiafoe won 47 per cent (28/60) of his return points in the 58-minute victory.

The 19 year old is currently in 10^th place in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan. The top seven in the Race will qualify for the eight-player tournament, to be held 7-11 November. The eighth spot is reserved for the winner of an Italian 21-and-under tournament.

Tiafoe has 662 Race points, 98 behind seventh-placed Hyeon Chung of South Korea. Tiafoe faces top seed David Goffin in the second round. The right-hander held two match points against Goffin in their only prior FedEx Head2Head meeting before losing at 2016 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Two other #NextGenATP players with their hopes set on Milan also advanced in Antwerp. American Ernesto Escobedo, who reached the semi-finals earlier this year in Houston, beat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in a #NextGenATP battle, 7-6(5), 6-4.

#NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas upset sixth seed Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 6-4. Cuevas has now lost nine consecutive matches.

Both Escobedo and Tsitsipas still could qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals. Escobedo is in 11^th place with 497 points, 263 behind seventh-placed Chung. Tsitsipas sits in 13^th place with 477 points, 283 behind Chung.

Escobedo next faces fourth seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina. Tsitsipas will meet Croatian Ivo Karlovic.