Prvi dan "Mastersa":
Beluci - Rejnolds 2-0
Bek-Klizan 2-0
Sela - Stebe 2-0
Macado - Behinger 2-1
Top seed and home favourite Thomaz Bellucci was untroubled in his opening Green Group match at the inaugural ATP Challenger Tour Finals on Wednesday in Sao Paulo, defeating American Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 6-3.
The Brazilian No. 1, who is the local wild card in the eight-player field, converted four of his six break point chances and won 84 per cent of points behind his first serve to claim victory in 70 minutes. It was his first appearance on the ATP Challenger Tour in 13 months, since reaching the Sao Paulo final last year.
"I was always in the lead so it was easier to control the match. I made a few mistakes, but it's normal for a first match so I'm happy to win," said Bellucci, who plays Andreas Beck on Thursday. "Against Beck it will be a tough match because he is an aggressive player, so I will have to play inside the court and not let him play."
World No. 37 Bellucci compiled a 25-25 match record on the ATP World Tour this season, highlighted by a run to the semi-finals at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he defeated two Top 10 players in Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych before falling to Novak Djokovic in three sets.
Israel’s Dudi Sela also made a winning start to his campaign, defeating German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-4, 7-6(3) in the Yellow Group. The No. 95-ranked Sela captured three successive ATP Challenger Tour titles earlier in the season, triumphing at Busan (d. Ito), Fergana (d. Jones) and Nottingham (d. Chardy) in the space of five weeks.
In the other Yellow Group match, Portugal’s Rui Machado was made to work hard for his opening win, battling from a set down to defeat German Matthias Bachinger 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4. The 27-year-old Machado is No. 1 in the 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Challenger Rankings after winning four titles in 14 tournaments this season, most recently lifting the trophy at Szczecin (d. Prodon) in September.
Sixth seed Beck avoided a third defeat for German contenders as he dismissed Slovakian Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-1 in the Green Group. The 25-year-old Beck started the week at No. 5 in the year-to-date standings after reaching four finals on the ATP Challenger Tour this season.
"It was a very good match, almost perfect," declared Beck. "I felt very confident with my ground strokes. I knew I had to play aggressive against him because he's a dangerous player and that's why I won".
#10 Gracias Dios, por el fútbol, por Maradona, por estas lágrimas.
#8 #24
OI 2016/2021/2024
SP 2009/2015
EP 2006/2012/2014/2016/2018
SK 2010/2014
SL 2007/2008/2010/2011/2013/2014/2015/2016/2017/2019
MI 2009/2018
OSVOJILI SMO SVEEEEEE!!!
