Fernando Verdasco falls, Cristian Garin battles through in Rio Open

Dejan Kalinic

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Fernando Verdasco falls, Cristian Garin battles through in Rio Open image

Fernando Verdasco slumped to another first-round loss, while Cristian Garin battled through at the Rio Open on Monday.

Verdasco, the ninth seed at the ATP 500 tournament, was beaten 6-3 6-3 by fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar on the clay in Brazil.

The 36-year-old has fallen to three straight losses, the first of which was a third-round defeat at the Australian Open.

Verdasco – the 2018 runner-up – was one of three seeds tested, but Garin survived a test against Andrej Martin.

Garin, who won the title in Cordoba earlier this month, needed more than three hours to edge Martin 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5).

Albert Ramos-Vinolas departed, the seventh seed falling to 16-year-old Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 7-6 (7-2) after three hours, 36 minutes.

Federico Delbonis advanced, while wildcard Thiago Seyboth Wild needed almost four hours to get past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.

There were also upsets at the Delray Beach Open, where John Millman and Adrian Mannarino were beaten in the first round.

Millman, the fifth seed, went down to Yoshihito Nishioka 3-6 6-4 6-2 and seventh seed Mannarino fell to Kwon Soon-woo 1-6 6-3 6-2.

Frances Tiafoe, the champion in 2018, came through his opener against qualifier Emilio Gomez.

Dejan Kalinic