No. 8 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas began his stay in Istanbul with a win on Monday, dismissing Adrian Mannarino in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. The Spaniard broke the Frenchman six times in the win. Ramos-Vinolas next will play either #NextGen star Karen Khachanov of Russia or Aljaz Bedene of Great Britain.

Top seed Bernard Tomic will open his campaign against Diego Schwartzman, who prevailed on Monday in an all-Argentine battle against Facundo Bagnis 6-1, 6-4, in one hour and 11 minutes. Schwartzman reached the semi-finals last year in Istanbul, where he lost in three sets to Roger Federer.

Third seed Grigor Dimitrov, also a semi-finalist last year in Istanbul, will face Romanian qualifier Adrian Ungur in his first match. Ungur continued to produce inspired tennis in Istanbul by defeating Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-3. Ungur’s last ATP World Tour main-draw victory came in 2014 in Bucharest.

Veteran Dudi Sela put on an impressive performance in dispatching qualifier and #NextGen star Andrey Rublev, 6-3, 6-2. Sela won 71 per cent of his first-serve points and put pressure on Rublev’s serve throughout the match, earning nine break-point opportunities and converting five of them. Next up for Sela is No. 4 seed Federico Delbonis of Argentina. It will be their first meeting.

Thomaz Bellucci ended a seven-match losing streak and gained the lead in his Fedex ATP Head2Head rivalry with Mikhail Youzhny on Monday at the BMW Open by FWU AG. Bellucci was up 6-3, 1-0 when Youzhny retired due to illness. The Brazilian now leads their rivalry 4-3.

Bellucci will face Ivan Dodig of Croatia in the second round in Munich. Dodig beat Latvian Ernests Gulbis 7-6(3), 6-2. The Croat landed 71 per cent of his first serves and broke Gulbis three times in the win. Bellucci leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 1-0.

Santiago Giraldo opened up play with a tight two-set victory over wild card Mischa Zverev 7-5, 7-6(5). Giraldo erased three set points while trailing 3-5 in the opening set. Next up for the Colombian is a second-round match against No. 3 seed Dominic Thiem. Giraldo won their only previous meeting in 2014 at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell.

Lukas Rosol extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry lead against Denis Istomin by winning 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(2). Rosol now leads the rivalry 3-1. The Czech will play either Tunisian Malek Jaziri or #NextGen star Alexander Zverev of Germany in the second round.

#NextGen star Borna Coric kept up his good start to the clay-court season on Monday, beating qualifier Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy 6-4, 6-1 at the Millennium Estoril Open. Coric, who made the final at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech earlier this month, erased the only break point he faced during his first-round match in Portugal.

The Croat also broke his opponent five times during the one-hour and 18-minute contest. The No. 6 seed will face German Benjamin Becker or Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva in the second round.

No. 7 seed Leonardo Mayer, the other singles seed in action on Monday, had similar luck against a home underdog, World No. 368 Pedro Sousa, who received a wild card into the tournament. The Argentine needed one hour and 20 minutes to dismiss Sousa 6-1, 6-4. Mayer next will play Italian Paolo Lorenzi or #NextGen star Elias Ymer of Sweden, who qualified for the event.

Nicolas Almagro also started another clay-court event well with a straight-set win against Frederico Ferreira Silva 6-3, 6-2. Almagro reached the final of the Argentina Open earlier this year before losing to Austrian Dominic Thiem. The Spaniard will face a home favourite in the second round, No. 4 seed Joao Sousa of Portugal. It will be their first meeting.

Qualifier Stephane Robert of France persisted through another round, beating Thomas Fabbiano of Italy 6-2, 6-2. The 35 year old next will play either German Michael Berrer or No. 5 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Diego Schwartzman shares the last time…

I missed a flight?
The last time I missed a flight was in Chile, Santiago, Chile, 2011. I was alone… I was supposed to go to see (house music DJ) Bob Sinclar and then I missed my flight. I stayed longer than I needed to and I missed my flight to come back to (Buenos Aires).

I lost something important?
One month ago, I forgot the key inside my car… I put my shoes in the trunk, and I forgot I had put my keys in my shoes… Then I needed to call a service, and they came two hours later, and it was a problem… Because I needed to pay a lot of money for them to open the trunk and the car. And then I took the key and left… It cost around $1,000. Yeah, it was too much. Argentina is not cheap.

I paid money to rent a tennis court or buy tennis balls?
Sometimes when it’s raining in Buenos Aires, you need to pay for the indoor courts… We don’t have many indoor clay courts in Argentina… The balls, I think my coach pays but I don’t know the price… Indoor courts in Argentina? Ten. In the winter, it’s really tough to play outdoors because it rains a lot.

Being famous helped me?
Sometimes that happens in Buenos Aires. I see people around my age… The boys always say, “Oh, he’s Diego Schwartzman.” I am Jewish and in Argentina, we have many Jewish (people) there, and all the people there know me…(They say), “Enjoy! Good luck this season. Come on, keep going!”

I strung a tennis racquet?
Never… I tried but it’s too difficult… Six years ago. When I was playing Futures…. Now I go to the stringer (and say), “Here’s my racquet. Do it, please.”

I cooked for myself and others?
This year, many times in Miami, Melbourne… We rent an apartment. And I stay with my coach, my physio, and my friends, and I cook. I like to cook.

I met a childhood idol?
My idol is Juan Román Riquelme… a football player in Argentina… Never met him.

I shared a hotel room with another player?
One year or two years ago.

I asked someone famous for an autograph or selfie?
I take some selfies with the football players in Argentina… last year in November, December. I put it on my Instagram.