Rublev and Bedene advance to 2nd round at the ABN AMRO WTT

Andrey Rublev returned to the courts in Rotterdam after a deserved break. He was on fire during the Australian Summer Tour where he won a couple of tournaments and went deep in Australia. He spoke to the media and reflected on all the hardships he had to overcome and how happy is he to be finally playing again.

His opponent today was Basilashvili and Rublev had no issues beating him in straight sets 6-2 6-3. He dominated from the early going hitting 6 aces to help him dominate on his own serve. He won 91 % of his 1st serves while 71 % of his second serves as well. His opponent couldn't match his intensity and it only took the Russian 56 minutes to beat his opponent. Sensational stuff.

A similar match was seen between Bedene and Paire. The Frenchman is struggling after his early-season success which saw him play a final in Auckland which he ultimately lost. After a disappointing showing in Pune which saw him losing to Marcora, he continued to struggle in Rotterdam.

Bedene was focused early and seized the opportunity to break his opponent which allowed him to keep the pressure on Paire. The Frenchman ultimately crumbled surrendering another serve en route to a 2-6 1st set loss. The 2nd set started similarly to the 1st one with Paire surrendering his serve early again. He managed to fight back a bit but it was too much ground to make up and Bedene cruised to a 6-4 2nd set victory.

The Slovenian tennis player was good on his serve winning 81 % of his 1st serves while hitting the 1st serve at a solid 68 % clip. All in all a solid showing from him in a 65-minute match while Paire continued to struggle.