Always working 😤 @alexdeminaur #RolexParisMasters
Struff and De Minaur advanced to the 2nd round of the Rolex Paris Masters after good victories against Basilashvili and Travaglia.
It took just under and hour and a half for Struff to defeat Basilashvili 6-4 6-2 despite some initial struggles. It was the Georgian who took the early lead 4-1 before Struff finally decided to play the way he can. He started a 5-game winning streak ending with him winning the opening set 6-4. Basilashvili opened pretty well but ultimately he could not muster any points on his 2nd serve which proved key for Struff who won 60 % of those points. The 2nd set was fairly easier for the German who continued to serve and play well with Nikoloz struggling pretty much everywhere. He didn't serve well hitting 4 double faults and he won less than 50 % of points of both of his serves. He did fairly well on break points saving 8 of 11 but that still meant he surrendered three and Struff won the 2nd set 6-2.
De Minaur returned to tennis in Paris playing against Stefano Travaglia. The Italian is a capable hard court player and he went through the qualification to get into the main draw. He did fairly well against De Minaur today even forcing a break point early. The Australian saved it and from there both played well. Neither had any particular chances until De Minaur got his first break point late in the set while leading 5-4. It proved more than enough for him to clinch the set 6-4. The 2nd set followed a similar pattern with Travaglia being the first to force break point but again Alex saved them both. The rest of the games were won fairly easy by the serving player.
The key moment came late in the set at 5-4 just like in the first set. Once again Alex got his first break points at that time which were actual match points. He would use the first one to clinch a 6-4 6-4 victory over Travaglia in 77 minutes.
Always working 😤 @alexdeminaur #RolexParisMasters