Alexander Zverev will play Holger Rune and Casper Ruud is set to face Alex Molcan in the round of 16 at the BMW Open.
Zverev and Ruud – the number one and two seeds respectively – received byes in the round of 32, with Danish wildcard Rune defeating Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to advance in Munich on Monday, and Molcan beating fellow Slovakian Norbert Gombos 6-1 3-6 7-6 (9-7).
Teenager Rune had won his opening match in four of his past five tour-level events ahead of the tournament and extended that run with relative ease.
There were no problems for seventh seed Miomir Kecmanovic as he overcame Max Hans Rehberg in straight sets, 6-2 6-3, and he will face Daniel Altmaier in the last 16 after he beat his German compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-1.
Emil Ruusuvuori is also through after beating Japanese opponent Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6 (7-5) 7-5, and the Finn will now go up against the winner of Dan Evans and Maxime Cressy.
At the Estoril Open, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who reached the final in Monte Carlo earlier this month, will face fellow Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles next after he overcame Federico Coria 6-4 6-3.
Fifth seed Frances Tiafoe secured a victory against Dusan Lajovic, with the American coming from a set down to win 2-6 7-5 6-0, and up next for him is Nuno Borges in the last 16.
Borges advanced after opponent Pablo Andujar retired hurt in the second set, although the Portuguese was already a set and 3-0 up at the time, while Soonwoo Kwon eased past Benoit Paire in straight sets.
Rafael Nadal eases past Flavio Cobolli on return to action in Barcelona
Rafael Nadal made a triumphant return to the match court with victory over Flavio Cobolli in the first round of the Barcelona Open.
The 37-year-old was playing just his second tournament in 15 months after suffering another injury problem in his hip muscle at his comeback event in Brisbane in January.
Nadal only committed to playing at the tournament he has won 12 times on Monday but there was not much rust on display as he eased to a 6-2 6-3 victory over 21-year-old Italian Cobolli in his first match on clay since he won his 14th French Open title in 2022.
Nadal received a hero’s welcome as he strode out onto the court that bears his name and, although there were a few loose forehands in the early stages, the former world number one was too solid for Cobolli.
Cobolli understandably looked nervous and contributed to the scoreline with far too many errors, but a big factor in that was the pressure being exerted from the other end of the court.
A blip came when Nadal, who is set to retire at some point this season, played a poor game to drop serve for the first time in the third game of the second set but he had already broken Cobolli and quickly restored his advantage.
There were some vintage forehands from Nadal in the final stages and he clinched victory when Cobolli netted a final backhand, thrusting his fist into the air.
The home favourite faces a real test next, though, when he takes on in-form fourth seed Alex De Minaur.
Meanwhile, second seed Andrey Rublev destroyed his racket at the end of a 6-4 7-6 (6) defeat by Brandon Nakashima that continued his poor run of form.
Andy Murray will not have surgery on ankle injury but return date unknown
Andy Murray will not have surgery on an ankle injury and his rehabilitation is progressing enough for him to think about a return to practice again soon.
The 36-year-old ruptured ligaments at last month’s Miami Open but he is now out of his protective boot.
A spokesperson from Murray’s team said the former world number one’s “rehab is going well and he is hoping to start hitting again on court soon” but added that “he doesn’t have a date yet for returning to competition”.
Murray was injured late on in his third-round defeat by Tomas Machac at the Miami Open on March 24.
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After crying out in pain and falling to the floor, he was able to complete the match following on-court treatment but revealed in an Instagram post that he had seriously damaged two ligaments in his left ankle.
The timing was cruel for the three-time grand slam champion, who had won back-to-back matches for the first time this year in Miami.
Murray has said he is unlikely to play beyond this summer as retirement looms ever nearer.
It is unclear if he will be fit for Wimbledon, which gets under way on July 1, while the Olympic Games in Paris – which the two-time gold medallist said he would like to play at – starts on July 26.
Dan Evans’ poor clay-court season continues with defeat to Brandon Nakashima
Dan Evans’ poor clay-court season continued with a third consecutive defeat as he went down in straight sets to Brandon Nakashima in Barcelona.
Evans has endured a difficult 2024 as a whole, suffering a first-round exit at the Australian Open, and has now failed to make the quarter-finals in any of his nine tournaments this year.
After early exits on clay in Marrakesh and Monte Carlo, British number three Evans lost 6-7 (5) 2-6 to Nakashima in the Barcelona Open first round.
The contest lasted two hours and 10 minutes but after a closely-fought first set, where the pair exchanged two breaks each, American youngster Nakashima took control in the second to inflict another loss on world number 49 Evans.
Jack Draper fared better in Munich as he beat Vit Kopriva in three sets to reach the last 16 of the BMW Open and claim his 50th ATP Tour victory in the process.
Draper had lost narrowly to Hubert Hurkacz at the Monte-Carlo Masters last week, but bounced back to claim his first win of the season on clay.
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Sixth seed Draper breezed through the opening set in 28 minutes before he let a 3-1 lead slip in the second as Kopriva of the Czech Republic forced a decider after he decisively broke his opponent in the 12th game of the set.
After the British number two rediscovered his composure, Draper was able to claim two breaks at the start of the third set before he registered another in a 6-1 5-7 6-4 success.
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