Etcheverry recovers from slow start in Lyon

Tomas Martin Etcheverry recovered from a slow start to survive a first-round scare against Spanish qualifier Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo at the Open Parc on Monday in Lyon.

The sixth seed overcame the No. 260 player in the PIF ATP Rankings 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 to improve to 7-1 in opening-round matches on clay this season.

Etcheverry fired 23 winners and won 72 per cent of points (21/29) on second-serve return, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to earn victory after two hours and 40 minutes at the ATP 250 event. The 24-year-old will next play Thiago Seyboth Wild or Pedro Martinez in Lyon.

A comeback win 💪@tometcheverry comes from a set down to defeat Sanchez Izquierdo 1-6 6-2 6-2 in Lyon!@OpenParcARA | #OpenParc pic.twitter.com/4aBshITV5C

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 20, 2024

Etcheverry is 11-7 on clay at tour-level events this season, highlighted by a run to the semi-finals at the ATP 500 event in Barcelona.

Pavel Kotov also advanced on Day 2 in Lyon. Playing at a career-high No. 57, the 25-year-old defeated Argentine lucky loser Pedro Cachin 6-1, 6-4 in the pair's first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting to reach the second round. Kotov advanced to the third round at the ATP Masters 100 event in Madrid last month. He will next play Alexandre Muller.

Germany's Dominik Koepfer advanced, beating Javier Barranco Cosano 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4. He will next play top seed Ugo Humbert. Arthur Rinderknech also sealed his spot in the second round, defeating Briton Daniel Evans 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6).