Kokkinakis Downs Lehecka At Phoenix Challenger

Primary-draw motion on the Phoenix Challenger bought off to a roaring begin Tuesday as two of the Prime-5 seeds had been upset within the opening spherical. Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis ousted Jiri Lehecka earlier than World No. 80 Nuno Borges bought previous second seed Diego Schwartzman below the lights on the Arizona Tennis Basic.

Contemporary off an Indian Wells conflict in opposition to World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, Kokkinakis made the journey to Arizona after falling to the Spaniard. On Tuesday, the 26-year-old gained 37 of 45 first serve factors to defeat fifth seed Lehecka 7-6(5), 6-4.

“Stoked to get it carried out,” Kokkinakis mentioned. “He’s going to be an excellent participant for years to come back. He’s explosive, has loads of firepower, very athletic. He’s enjoying some nice tennis this 12 months, he made the quarter-finals on the Australian Open. I needed to form of climate the storm, the circumstances are very sluggish right here. I simply tried to remain affected person and out grind him.”

Borges stayed constant from the baseline and punished World No. 38 Schwartzman’s deep court docket positioning to earn the highest-ranked win of his profession and upset the second seed 7-5, 6-3. The Portuguese No. 1, who gained final month’s Monterrey Challenger, awaits the winner of Pedro Martinez and Roman Safiullin.

In different main-draw motion, fourth seed Alexander Bublik defeated defending Phoenix Challenger champion Denis Kudla 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-2. The Kazakh will subsequent face fortunate loser Rinky Hijikata or Chinese language star Zhizhen Zhang.