Halle (Germany) – Halle’s top two seeds at the ATP 500 debut with victory at the German grass-court tournament. But while Daniil Medvedev dominated the match and advanced without major risks, Stefanos Tsitsipas won a much more complicated match on Monday.

World number 3, Medvedev took only 1h11 to win his match against the American Marcos Giron, 57th in the standings. The Russian fired nine aces in the match and suffered no breaks of serve, facing only three break points in the game. This is his 40th win of the season.

Medvedev’s opponent in the round of 16 will be 65th-placed Serbian Laslo Djere, who beat local guest Oscar Otte 7-6 (7-3) 6-3. The former leader of the classification has a victory and a defeat against Djere on the professional circuit. Both matches took place on clay.

THE BIG 40! 🎉

Medvedev’s 6-4 6-3 win over Giron makes him the first player to claim 40 wins this season! #TWO23 pic.twitter.com/DsuSNbp8lv

—Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 19, 2023

Tsitsipas seeks comeback against Frenchman
Stefanos Tsitsipas’ debut lasted 2:20. World number 5, the Greek was pushed to the limit by the French Grégoire Barrère, 58th in the ranking, by 6/7 (6-8), 6/4 and 7/6 (7-3). In the second round in Halle, he faces Chilean Nicolas Jarry, 28th, who beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6/3, 7/5. Their record is tied at 1-1.

The first partial was entirely without breaks and Tsitsipas even had a set-point in the tie-break. The situation became even more dangerous for the Greek after Barrere opened 3-1 in the second set, but he scored two breaks in a row late in the game. The servers prevailed again in the third set and the tournament seed 2 was superior in another tie-break.

Stef seals it 💌@steftsitsipas beat Barrere 6-7 6-4 7-6 for his first victory on grass of the season! 🌱#TWO23 pic.twitter.com/HvSdImCQyA

—Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 19, 2023

Nakashima and Shapovalov also advance
In the same quadrant as Tsitsipas in Halle, Canadian Denis Shapovalov also debuted with the win. He edged South African Lloyd Harris 7/6 (7-1) and 6/4. His opponent in the round of 16 will come from the match between Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, who face each other on Tuesday.

American Brandon Nakashima beat Sweden’s Mikael Ymer 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. Nakashima could face German Daniel Altmaier or Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, seeded 8 in the event. They are in the same sector as Medvedev in the key.