Second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas has clawed his way back from a set and a break down to beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz and reach the last-16 of the ATP 500 event in the Netherlands.
The Greek Tsitsipas reacted well to going 2-0 down in the second set, fighting back strongly to beat Hurkacz, who was celebrating his 23rd birthday, 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-1.
Earlier on Tuesday, Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime outlasted Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff to win 6-3 1-6 6-3 and advance while Italian fifth seed Fabio Fognini fell 6-3 6-3 Russia’s world No.17 Karen Khachanov.
Tsitsipas, who was knocked out in the third round of the Australian Open, has now beaten Hurkacz five times out of six, although this was another close encounter between the pair.
World No.6 Tsitsipas needed a medical timeout to deal with a shoulder problem after making unforced errors in a poor tiebreak, and Hurkacz quickly stole a march in the second set before the favourite launched his comeback.
Tsitsipas needed 46 minutes to take the second set before he dominated in the decisive third, breaking Hurkacz’s serve on five occasions during the match.
Auger-Aliassime, 19, who had his breakthrough season last year, nearly threw it away in the second set against Struff when he lost five games in a row before he regained his composure in the final set.
“It was really tough, there was so many emotions running through my head,” Auger-Aliassime told the ATP website.
The Canadian world No.21 served seven double faults but also fired 16 aces in the contest and set up a match with Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.
On the other side of the draw Fognini was ousted by Khachanov.
Fognini lost his focus after an argument with the umpire over a call in the second set and also asked for the trainer’s help in strapping up his leg below the knee.
Khachanov sailed through the second set with two breaks of serve and Fognini’s unforced error count of 36 only made things easier for the Russian.
Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev knocked out Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2 6-3 in what was the shortest match of the first round, with the 22-year-old wrapping up the encounter in only 55 minutes.
Others to advance to the second round were Filip Krajinovic, Alexander Bublik and Aljaz Bedene.