Doha, Qatar) – Double champion of the ATP 250 in Doha, in 2019 and 2022, Roberto Bautista Agut began his quest for the third title of the competition with a very difficult victory. The experienced 34-year-old Spaniard had to fight for 3:07 to beat the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, 78th in the standings, 7/6 (9-7), 5/7, 6/4.

Bautista Agut had to show reaction power at the end of the first set, which he lost by 5/3. And in the second, he had break opportunities when the score was equal to 5/5, but he did not take advantage of them and lost the service in the sequence. In the decisive partial, he created seven break chances and took advantage of one of them at the end of the game.

Former top 10 and current 28th in the standings, Bautista Agut will face Australian Christopher O’Connell, who avoided a Spanish duel in the round of 16 by beating Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.

2021 champion Nikoloz Basilashvili didn’t make it past the first round. The Georgian lost to Frenchman Alexandre Muller 7/6 (7-3), 6/7 (8-10) and 6/4. Muller takes on 8-seeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, who scored 6/2 and 7/5 against Ilya Ivashka.

Another Dutch victory with Tallon Griekspoor, who beat Frenchman Quentin Halys 7/6 (7-4), 4/6 and 7/6 (7-5) to confirm the duel with the big favorite and 2020 champion Andrey Rublev. Also on Tuesday, the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori beat the Briton Daniel Evans, head 6, by 7/5 and 6/4. He now faces the Czech Jiri Lehecka.

The favorites make their debut this Wednesday
This Wednesday’s round will have the main favorites on the court: At 8:30 am (Brasília time), the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will be challenged by the Australian Jason Kubler. Then the match between Rublev and Griekspoor takes place. Programming in the large stadium continues at noon, with Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev. And then, Daniil Medvedev will be challenged by the Briton Liam Broady.