The Astana Open in Astana, Kazakhstan began today on 3rd October as the event has been upgraded from an ATP 250 to an ATP 500 level tournament. The tournament is set to feature some big names in the likes of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Marin Cilic, Hubert Hurkacz, Felix Auger-Aliassime and so on.
The first set of matches began earlier today. The cold weather outside was not going to impede the players who were battling each other indoors at the Daulet Sports Complex.
The first match saw Frenchman Adrian Mannarino take on Swiss veteran Stanislas Wawrinka in a match that went the full distance. The Swiss had to succumb in three sets despite a strong opening set as he went down fighting to Mannarino. The Frenchman sealed the deal with a score of 1-6 6-2 6-3.
Kazakh player Beibit Zhukayev was taken down in quite overwhelming fashion by Dutchamn Botic van de Zandschulp with a score of 6-1 6-1.
Aslan Karatsev and Zhang Zhizhen battled it out for three sets with the Chinese overcoming the challenge from Karatsev with a score of 4-6 6-4 6-1.
Seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz was another man who was victorious today as he continued his bid to make it to the Nitto ATP Finals which is set to take place in Turin. The Pole faced Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo. He broke the Argentinian’s serve twice in the first set to win it 6-2. The second set saw a tiebreak that was eventually won by Hurkacz as he sealed it 7-6 (7-2 in the tiebreak).
Roberto Bautista Agut was exceptional in his match against the eighth seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Spaniard continued his Davis Cup form as he went on to oust the Canadian in straight sets 6-4 7-6 (8-6 in the tiebreak).
Andrey Rublev was another man in fine touch as he defeated his Serbian opponent Laslo Djere in straight sets 6-4 6-3. A break of serve in each set was enough to see Rublev comfortably taking the match.
And as of that, a very eventful day in Astana came to an end. Tuesday sees more action as top seed and US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz take on Belgian David Goffin. Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin. Second seed Daniil Medvedev will begin the campaign against Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Karen Kachanov takes on Maxime Cressy of the United States.
Wednesday sees more round of 32 matches as fourth seed Novak Djokovic, fresh from winning the title in Tel Aviv, takes on Cristian Garin. The champion in Sofia, Marc-Andrea Huesler takes on Emil Ruusuvori of Finland. Tel Aviv finalist Marin Cilic will open his account against Oscar Otte of Germany who was set to play Jannik Sinner in the first round but Sinner was unable to compete as a result of the injury he sustained in the semi-finals in Sofia.
Image credit: Twitter/ATPTour
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