Beaten Bernie exits Estoril
JOHN Millman has hammered Bernard Tomic in their all-Australian firstround encounter at the ATP Tour’s Estoril Open, while countryman Alexei Popyrin fell to defending champion Joao Sousa.
World No.50 Millman got the better of Gold Coaster Tomic in a tight first set, with a single break, before he steamrolled through the second set to win 6-3, 6-0 in just 52 minutes.
Brisbane-born Millman now faces lowly-ranked local Joao Domingues, who upset Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur in the opening round of the clay tournament in Portugal.
Chasing a first ATP quarter-final berth, Domingues said he would head into his meeting with Millman full of confidence.
“I respect him a lot but I’m not intimidated. I believe in myself,” he said.
Teenage qualifier Popyrin was gallant in his loss to Sousa, battling back from a set down before he succumbed 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
The Portuguese No.1 needed two hours and 13 minutes to battle past 19year-old Popyrin and book a second-round meeting with fourth-seeded Belgian David Goffin.
Sousa admitted Popyrin didn’t make his progression easy as the Australian saved six break points in the eighth game before the local converted on his seventh attempt.
“It was
Sousa said.
“First round for me after tough for me,” last year winning the title. I was a little bit nervous but Alexei was playing great tennis.
“The conditions here were tough today. A little bit of wind.
“But I was able to play at a good level in the end and in the third set I think I was a little bit better.”
In other first-round results, Argentine Leonardo Mayer knocked out fifthseeded Dusan Lajovic 7-6, (7-3), 6-4, while Frenchman Jeremy Chardy ousted seventh-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. PORTUGAL’S JOAO SOUSA
American eighth seed Frances Tiafoe, last year’s finalist, progressed with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Mikhail Kukushkin, while Malek Jaziri, qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and lucky loser Pablo Cuevas also advanced to the second round.
Australian women had mixed fortunes at the WTA’s Morocco Open, with Ajla Tomljanovic through to the second round and Daria Gavrilova bowing out.
Fourth-seeded Tomljanovic beat France’s Fiona Ferro 6-4, 6-4 but Australian Fed Cup team member Gavrilova was ousted by second-seeded Hsieh Su-wei 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
I WAS ABLE TO PLAY AT A GOOD LEVEL IN THE END AND IN THE THIRD SET I THINK I WAS A LITTLE BIT BETTER