Roberto Carballes Baena made a confident start to his bid for a second clay-court crown of the season on Monday at the Generali Open, where the Spaniard downed Guido Pella 6-2, 6-4 to advance in Kitzbühel.
Carballes Baena assumed control early of the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting since 2019, reeling off five games in a row from 1-2 to claim the first set. A solitary break in the second set proved enough for the World No. 59 to complete a 71-minute victory and reach the second round for the third time in four appearances at the ATP 250 in the Austrian Alps.
“I think I played a really good match,” said the sixth-seeded Spaniard in his on-court interview. “It was not easy for me because I only practised yesterday, but I think I served very well and I played very aggressively.”
SUPER impressive ????
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 31, 2023
No. 6 seed @Robertocarba93 takes a commanding 6-2 lead over Pella.#GeneraliOpen pic.twitter.com/FNbZ8f7EZG
Carballes Baena rose to a career-high No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in April after claiming his second tour-level title in Marrakech. The 30-year-old is now 18-18 for the year and feeling confident as he looks to forge a deep run on the clay of Kitzbühel.
“I think I played my best tennis this year,” said Carballes Baena. “I played more aggressive and with confidence. I like these conditions, I like the altitude, so I hope to have a good tournament.”
The Spaniard’s second-round opponent will be Sebastian Baez, after the Argentine enjoyed a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Hamad Medjedovic on his Kitzbühel debut. The 22-year-old Baez, who is chasing his third clay-court ATP 250 title this week, stayed rock-solid from the baseline for an 83-minute win against #NextGenATP Medjedovic in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.
Alex Molcan and Guido Andreozzi were also first-round winners on Monday. Molcan downed the in-form #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche 6-4, 6-3 to improve his career record on clay to 29-16. The Slovakian, who reached tour-level finals on the surface in Belgrade in 2021 and Marrakech and Lyon in 2022, converted three of 11 break points he earned against Van Assche to book a second-round meeting with fourth seed Sebastian Ofner.
The Argentine qualifier Andreozzi notched his first tour-level win since 2019 with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 triumph against 2022 finalist Filip Misolic. Andreozzi kept his cool in the decider to accelerate to victory against home favourite Misolic and set a second-round meeting with top seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
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