GRAN CANARIA, February 22, 2021
Main draw action at the Gran Canaria Challenger, the first ATP Challenger Tour event on the Canary Islands since 2009, kicked off on a sunny Monday at the El Cortijo Club de Campo in Telde.
In the top half of the draw, Blaz Kavcic caused the upset of the day by knocking out No. 3 seed Federico Gaio from Italy on Court 1. The World No. 260 from Slovenia capitalized on six of his 12 break-point chances to advance to the second round after one hour and 45 minutes. Kavcic will next take on Italian Riccardo Bonadio, who beat Spanish talent Nicola Kuhn 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 35 minutes.
In other action, No. 8 seed Filip Horansky fought past Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in two hours of play and awaits the winner of the match between Gian Marco Moroni from Italy and French qualifier Manuel Guinard.
We are back in Gran Canaria 🇪🇸!
This week, for the first time since 2009, the Canary Islands host a tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour.
🎥 @meftennisevents pic.twitter.com/5NCbj7wwgf
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 22, 2021
In the bottom half of the draw, Kimmer Coppejans knocked off No. 5 seed Danilo Petrovic from Serbia 6-1, 6-1. The 27-year-old Belgian, who qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open but fell in the opening round in Melbourne to Jiri Vesely, benefited from eight doubles faults from his opponent and broke Petrovic’s serve five times.
“Danilo had to cope with injuries over the last couple of months and also had Covid. So it was one of his first matches back on the tour and he didn’t play his usual level but I managed my game well and executed well,” said Coppejans after the 64-minute encounter on Grand Stand.
“The location here is great. The weather is super. The hotel is next to the sea. The club is very beautiful. I really enjoy my stay here in Gran Canaria.”
The World No. 182 will next take on Marco Trungelliti of Argentina, who rallied from a set down to overcome 19-year-old Spanish wild card entry Carlos Gimeno Valero from Valencia 1-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 after two hours and 11 minutes.
In the final Gran Canaria Challenger match of the day, Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo defeated Croatian alternate Nino Serdarusic 6-0, 6-4. The 38-year-old former World No. 5 finished the encounter on Centre Court after one hour and 15 minutes.
