Read & Watch: Opelka Achieves Personal Milestone In Estoril Opener
American Reilly Opelka picked up his first tour-level clay-court win on Monday at the Millennium Estoril Open. The 6'11” American overcame home wild card Pedro Sousa 7-6(2), 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with third seed Gael Monfils of France.
Opelka had been 0-4 on clay at tour-level, but the 21-year-old gained confidence on the surface last year on the ATP Challenger Tour, winning the BNP Paribas Primrose in Bordeaux, France. Opelka and Monfils have never played each other.
“The clay here is different than what [Americans] are used to playing on. I prefer it, I did pretty well last year in the Challengers in France and everything. I'm excited to book a pretty busy clay-court schedule,” Opelka said.
Portuguese qualifier Joao Domingues, No. 214, upset sixth seed and No. 27 Alex de Minaur 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 for his biggest win by ATP Ranking. The #NextGenATP Aussie was playing his first match since losing in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in March (hip).
“I'm feeling good. I'm playing good so I'm confident. This is very important in tennis. I'm looking forward to playing more matches like this,” said Domingues, who will face the winner of an all-Aussie battle between Bernard Tomic and John Millman.
Argentina's Guido Andreozzi will meet top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece after beating Bolivia's Hugo Dellien 6-3, 6-3, and Yoshihito Nishioka could face eighth seed and defending finalist Frances Tiafoe in the second round.
Nishioka swept American Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-4. Tiafoe meets Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin in his opener.