Hertogenbosch: Former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic made a winning return to the circuit at the Libema Open, reaching the men's singles second round with a straight sets victory against Jordan Thompson in the first round on Tuesday. With this win, Raonic improved to 15-1 in first-round matches on grass since 2014 as the former World No. 3 dispatched eighth seed Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round at the ATP 250 event.
Competing for the first time since Indian Wells in March, Raonic thundered 14 aces according to ATP Infosys Stats to earn just his fourth tour-level win of the season after 90 minutes. Raonic will next meet Roberto Bautista Agut or Marc-Andrea Huesler.
Frenchman Arthur Fils, the Next Gen ATP player, won his first tour-level grass-court match in 's-Hertogenbosch, where he moved past countryman Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 6-4.
The 19-year-old, who was competing in his third tour-level match on the surface, did not face a break point en route to his one-hour, 33-minute win in his first ATP head-to-head meeting with Cazaux.
Fils, currently first in the ATP Live Race To Jeddah, will next play third-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the Netherlands.
The 2019 champion Adrian Mannarino made a winning start to his campaign in the Netherlands, where he clawed past Stefano Napolitano 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. The 35-year-old next plays Gijs Brouwer after the Dutch qualifier defeated #NextGenATP Czech Jakub Mensik 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
In other action, Australian Aleksandar Vukic beat countryman Max Purcell 6-3, 7-6(5), while Mackenzie McDonald downed Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. IANS
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