A one-sided derby
Alexandre Muller made short work of compatriot Moise Kouame in the opening round of the ATP Chengdu event. The Frenchman, ranked No. 135 in the world, won 6-4, 6-0. The second set didn’t offer much drama at all.
Kouame, 17 and ranked No. 191, had actually arrived with some momentum. He’d just reached the semi-finals at the Phan Thiet Challenger, his best result of the season. Against a more seasoned opponent, though, he never found a way back into it.
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Ten set points saved, then total control
On another court, Adrian Mannarino told a very different story. The Frenchman, ranked No. 78 in the world, beat home hope Shang Juncheng, handed a wild card by the organisers. The scoreline read 7-6(9), 6-2. The first set, though, had stopped making sense long before that.
Mannarino saved ten straight set points before finally edging the tie-break 11-9. Once he’d dragged that opener over the line the hard way, he took full control of the second and sealed his spot in round two without much fuss.
At 38, the veteran still keeps his unusual game alive on tour, all slices, changes of pace and awkward angles. Matches like this one, where he has to absorb pressure before finally pulling clear, suit him down to the ground.
Two very different routes into round two
The two Frenchmen won’t meet in the next round, whatever some in the French camp may have hoped before the draw came out. Muller now faces Italy’s Federico Cina, who beat Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-3, 6-2 earlier in the day.
Mannarino, meanwhile, has drawn a far tougher assignment. He’ll face Alejandro Tabilo, the third seed and defending champion in Chengdu. A proper test for the veteran, who has made a strong start to the week.
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