Ramos-Vinolas first seed to bite the dust
Fifth-seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas has been dumped out of the ASB Classic in the first round by Portugal’s Joao Sousa, 6-1, 7-5.
With the top four seeds not in action until Wednesday, the 26thranked Spaniard is the tournament’s first major casualty. Although, ranked inside the world’s top 50, Sousa was always going to be a tricky first-up opponent.
The 27-year-old wrapped up the first set in just 30 minutes, breaking Ramos-Vinolas twice and dominating on serve, converting all 12 of his first service points.
Ramos-Vinolas, who won his first ATP title in 2016 and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, battled bravely in the second set, getting back on serve after falling behind early.
But he struggled for consistency, with his frustration clearly evident as Sousa won the last two games to seal the result.
Sousa will meet Brydan Klein in the second round after the British qualifier clinched a dramatic victory over Argentine Facundo Bagnis.
Klein looked to be on his way out as he trailed 5-2 in the third set after giving up four match points in the second. However, he refused to throw in the towel and stormed home to win 6-1 6-7 7-6.
On the Grandstand court, American qualifier Ryan Harrison cruised into the second round with a straight sets victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Harrison, who beat Kiwi Rubin Statham on Sunday to reach the main draw, continued his 100 per cent record over the Spaniard, beating him for the fourth-straight time, 6-1 6-2.
He faces a big step up next, though, with fellow American and third seed Jack Sock waiting in the second round.
Once seen as the next big thing in US tennis, Harris reached the second round in Auckland as a 19-year-old in 2012 and has been ranked as high as No 43 in the world.
He lost his way over the past two years but the 24-year-old has shown signs of a revival in recent times, breaking back into the top 100 for the first time since the start of 2014 after reaching the third of the US Open - a career-best in Grand Slams.
On an overcast day at Stanley Street on Tuesday, the world No 89 was always in control shooting out to a 3-0 lead before comfortably serving out the first set.
Garcia-Lopez stuck with him for the first four games in the second, but back-to-back breaks saw Harrison him close out the match in a little over an hour.