The main stage of the ATP Challenger Series Guangzhou Nansha International Challenger men’s tennis tournament began in China on Tuesday, where the 33-year-old qualified Richard Berankis (ATP-329) in the first round in 1 hour. 26 min. He managed 6:2, 6:3 with the neutral athlete Alibek Kachmazov (ATP-261).
In the first set, R. Berankis “broke” his opponent in the third and eighth games, and in the second set – in the sixth and eighth. R. Berankis himself did not make a mistake and did not give the opponent a single series of his serves.
R. Berankiis had never played against this neutral athlete before. in 2022 Edas Butvilas played with A. Kačmazov and that time he failed 5:7, 2:6.
During his singles career, A. Kačmazovas has not yet won ATP Challenger titles – all his trophies were won on the ITF tour. Before coming to this week’s tournament, A. Kačmazovas reached the quarterfinals in two consecutive ATP “Challenger” tournaments.
The victory secured 10 ATP singles ranking points and $1,350 for R. Beranki, and he will face James Duckworth (ATP-113) who defeated Dane Sweeney (ATP-224) in the second round.
If R. Berankis wants to maintain the status of the first Lithuanian racket, he needs to go at least to the final this week.
The prize pool of the ATP “Challenger” series men’s tennis tournament in China consists of 82 thousand. US dollars.
