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Top seed Alex de Minaur of Australia defeated Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo 7-6 (8), 6-3 in first-round action Tuesday at the HSBC Championships.
De Minaur outlasted Diallo in a back-and-forth first-set tiebreaker, forcing the Canadian into an unforced error while serving on set point.
The Australian took control of the second set with a hard-fought break to go up 3-1.
Diallo failed to convert three game points, and de Minaur finally converted his fourth break point in a game that took 15 minutes 25 seconds to complete.
De Minaur will next face Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., at the ATP 500 grass-court event at London’s Queen’s Club. Shapovalov broke a five-match losing streak with a first-round victory over Britain’s Jack Pinnington Jones on Monday.
Diallo, who saw his world ranking drop 30 points to No. 84 after he failed to win a match in his title defence at last week’s Libema Open, saw his record this season drop to 6-15.
Fernandez upset at Nottingham
Canada’s Leylah Fernandez was upset 6-4, 7-6 (1) by Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in first-round action Friday at the Nottingham Open.
Fernandez, seeded second at the WTA 205 grass-court event, had seven aces, but she hit into four double-faults and was broken three times.
Sonmez evened her career record against Fernandez at 1-1.
Fernandez came out on top earlier this year when she beat Sonmez in three sets at the clay-court Stuttgart Open.
The 23-year-old Fernandez, from Laval, Que., saw her season record drop to 11-17.
The world No. 22 has lost her first match in four of her last five events.
Williams loses doubles match at Berlin Open
Serena Williams’ comeback hit a bump Tuesday with a loss in her opening-round doubles match at the Berlin Open.
Giuliana Olmos and Erin Routliffe defeated Williams and her partner Karolina Muchova 6-4, 6-4 to end Williams’ involvement in the WTA 500 grass-court tournament at the first stage.
It didn’t dim the love Williams was shown from the appreciative fans on what was her second appearance after a win at Queen’s Club last week in London. That had been Williams’ first professional match since the 2022 U.S. Open. But her participation at Queen’s Club was cut short when partner Victoria Mboko injured her knee in a singles match.
The 44-year-old Williams was welcomed by a huge roar and applause to center court at the Steffi Graf Stadion, which quickly filled up as fans snacking and drinking outside realized the main attraction was about to start.
Earlier Tuesday, Wimbledon organizers announced that Williams and her older sider Venus, who turns 46 on Wednesday, were being given a doubles wild card invitation for the tournament that starts in less than two weeks.
Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles — including seven at Wimbledon — before stepping away from the game, saying at the time she was “evolving” away from tennis rather than “retiring.”
She has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, including six at Wimbledon — all with her sister Venus.
“Welcome back Serena!” one fan in Berlin shouted as Williams showed flashes of her tenacity with some ferocious returns.
“Serena, we love you in Berlin!” another fan shouted to cheers in the second set.
But Olmos and Routliffe broke Muchova’s serve for 3-2 in the second set, and Routliffe set up the match point with an ace.