After missing the entire 2018 ATP Tour season due to an elbow injury, Steve Darcis made a winning return to action at the Tata Open Maharashtra on Monday.
"It feels good [to win], of course," said Darcis. "When you don't play for 400 days it is long and to come here and have the first win of the year, I feel great."
The 34-year-old Belgian notched a 6-3, 6-4 win over sixth seed Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain after one hour and 33 minutes, converting four of five break points en route to his first tour-level victory since the 2017 European Open in Antwerp.
"I had a lot of pressure. It is strange to come back onto the court for a match after such a long time, but I was feeling good on the court," said Darcis. "Of course, [there was] a lot of stress, but I just tried to be solid... I was serving good, so I am pretty happy about the way I played today."
Darcis will meet #NextGenATP American Michael Mmoh for a place in the quarter-finals. Mmoh defeated Indian wild card Prajnesh Gunneswaran 7-5, 6-3.
Jaume Munar earned his first win of the season in Pune, beating Radu Albot 6-2, 7-6(4) on his tournament debut. The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals semi-finalist saved nine of 10 break points to move into a second-round clash against Simone Bolelli or Denis Istomin.
Evgeny Donskoy also overcame seeded Spanish opposition to advance to the second round, saving four consecutive match points from 2/6 down in the final-set tie-break to eliminate eighth seed Pablo Andujar 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(6). Donskoy converted his first match point after two hours and 30 minutes to book a second-round meeting with Felix Auger-Aliassime or Ivo Karlovic.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2EYCOyn
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