Winston-Salem Open 2015: Monday Tennis Scores, Results and Updated Draw Schedule
Defending champion Lukas Rosol got his 2015 Winston-Salem Open off to a good start in a straight-set victory over Ernests Gulbis. The 30-year-old Czech was one of the top headliners during Monday's first-round play.
While this may not be the most star-studded tournament on the ATP Tour, it will offer the participants a great chance to build some nice momentum ahead of the U.S. Open, which starts in a week.
Below is a brief recap for some of Monday's bigger results.
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Monday Results
| Aljaz Bedene def. Marco Cecchinato | 6-2, 6-2 |
| Simone Bolelli def. Federico Delbonis | 6-4, 6-3 |
| Pierre-Hugues Herbert def. Sergiy Stakhovsky | 6-3, 6-2 |
| Malek Jaziri def. Joao Souza | 6-3, 6-4 |
| Martin Klizan def. Marsel Ilhan | 7-6(1), 6-2 |
| Thanasi Kokkinakis def. Alexandr Dolgopolov | 7-6(1), 7-6(5) |
| Lukas Rosol def. Ernests Gulbis | 6-4, 7-6(4) |
| Frances Tiafoe def. James Duckworth | 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(3) |
| Pablo Carreno Busta def. Tommy Haas | 6-3, 6-4 |
| Denis Istomin def. Donald Young | 6-3, 6-3 |
Tuesday Schedule
| Stadium | |
| Sam Groth vs. Steve Johnson (13) | 3 p.m. ET |
| Gilles Simon (1) vs. Aljaz Bedene | ---- |
| Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (3) vs. Denis Istomin | Not Before 7 p.m. ET |
| Simone Bolelli vs. Sam Querrey (7) | ---- |
| Court 2 | |
| Jerzy Janowicz (16) vs. Lukas Rosol | 3 p.m. ET |
| Mikhail Kukushkin vs. Kevin Anderson (2) | ---- |
| Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs. Marcos Baghdatis (14) | ---- |
| Joao Sousa vs. Pablo Carreno Busta | ---- |
Monday Recap
Rosol may be the defending champion, but the draw afforded him no luxuries as he kicked off his tourney against Ernests Gulbis. The two engaged in a great back-and-forth match with neither guy budging on serve. Rosol won 76 percent of his service points, while Gulbis was a fairly robust 74 percent on serve.
In the end, the difference proved to be the fact Rosol saved all six of Gulbis' break-point opportunities.
"It's not easy to defend the title," Rosol said after his win, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "It was not easy, because two weeks ago I lost to (Gulbis) at Montreal in the second round. So I'm happy to continue winning here. I was trying to concentrate on every point. Ernests was starting to serve very well in the second set, so that made things tricky. But I was happy to finish it in the tiebreak."
The road to a repeat won't get any easier for Rosol from here. He'll play Jerzy Janowicz, his opponent in last year's final, in the second round. Janowicz received a bye in the first round, so he'll be fresh when the two meet Tuesday afternoon.
Donald Young was among the more notable Americans to play Monday, losing 6-3, 6-3 to Denis Istomin. The 26-year-old's serve let him down, as he picked up four-double faults and won just 56 percent of his first-service points.
In 15 of his last 18 tournaments on the ATP Tour, Istomin failed to advance past the second round. That trend could very well continue Tuesday when he faces off with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The two have played on four occasions, with Tsonga winning each time.
American Frances Tiafoe turned a lot of heads in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with his three-set victory over James Duckworth in the first round. It's his first win on the ATP Tour, making him the third 17-year-old to taste victory this year, per Josh Meiseles of ATPWorldTour.com.
Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times is among those excited by Tiafoe's progress in the tournament:
Tiafoe will have a stern test in the form of Thomaz Bellucci in the second round. Bellucci will be looking to atone for his one-sided defeat to Tomas Berdych at the Western and Southern Open last week.
Although Tiafoe's win was a pleasant surprise for American tennis fans, the biggest shock of Monday belonged to Thanasi Kokkinakis, who upset Alexandr Dolgopolov, the No. 39 player in the world. Kokkinakis prevailed in straight sets, 7-6(1), 7-6(5).
With the seeded players beginning to enter the fray Tuesday, the second round should provide even more excitement for those in attendance in Winston-Salem.
Note: A full schedule of Tuesday's action is available at ATPWorldTour.com.
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