De Minaur Makes Winning Start In Los Cabos

Fifth seed Alex de Minaur passed a stern test Tuesday to begin his title quest at the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo.

Amidst humid conditions, the 24-year-old defeated Tunisian qualifier Skander Mansouri 6-4, 6-4 after recovering from a break down twice in the second set. Despite making just 47 per cent of his first serves, De Minaur dropped four points behind his first delivery to advance at the ATP 250 tournament.

The World No. 19 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings broke Mansouri's serve at 5-4 in both sets and sealed the match after one hour, 45 minutes.

A seven-time tour-level titlist, De Minaur's opening-round victory in Los Cabos marks his 180th tour-level match win. The Sydney-native has not lost in the first round of any tournament this season.

Making his Los Cabos debut, De Minaur has already tasted success in Mexico this season, claiming his biggest career title at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco in February. De Minaur will next meet Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante in the second round of Los Cabos.

In other results, Chilean sixth seed Nicolas Jarry cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win over 18-year-old Mexican wild card Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez. He will next play Dutchman Gijs Brouwer.

Following on from his run to the quarter-finals of last week's Atlanta Open, seventh-seeded German Dominik Koepfer defeated Chilean Tomas Barrios Vera 6-4, 6-3. He next faces Australian James Duckworth.