MAIA/STARNBERG, December 6, 2021
The penultimate week of the 2021 ATP Challenger Tour season is underway in Portugal with the Maia Open 1 hosted by the Complexo Municipal de Ténis da Maia.
The top two seeds of the €44,820 indoor clay-court tournament began their title bid with comfortable first-round wins. No. 1 seed Andrej Martin of Slovakia cruised past Spaniard Carlos Sanchez Jover 6-3, 6-0. The World No. 120 from Bratislava broke his opponent’s serve six times and won 64 per cent of the total points played to prevail after only 57 minutes.
“I am very happy with the way it went,” Martin said. “It was a very good level, which is important for me and I am very positive about the match.”
Martin, who is seeking his first title of the season, will next take on either Italian qualifier Lorenzo Bocchi or Elliot Benchetrit of Morocco.
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In the bottom half of the draw, Kimmer Coppejans advanced to the second round of the Maia Open following a 6-1, 6-1 win over Briton Paul Jubb. The No. 2 seed from Belgium saved all five break points he faced and capitalized on five of his own eight break-point chances to succeed in one hour and 20 minutes.
Coppejans will next play the winner of the encounter between Spanish qualifier Miguel Damas and his compatriot Julien Cagnina. The 27-year-old Oostende native is trying to clinch his first trophy since his triumph at the 2018 Copa Sevilla in Spain.
