World No180 Daniel Brands upsets World No 22 Basilashvili in ATP Sofia Open

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Patna : World No 180 in ATP rankings Daniel Brands, 31, Germany, a qualifier, stunned World No 22 Nikoloz Basilashvili, 26, Georgia,  in a tough contest 7-6, 7-5 in the first round of Sofia Open 2019, an ATP World series 250 points event, at Sofia, Bulgaria, on February 5, 2019.

Daniel Brands fired 11 Aces in the match to 7 by Basilashvili. Basilashvili committed 10 double faults to 4 by his Brands. Brands won 3 break points to 2 by Basilashvili. Both players won 4 games each in a row in the match. Brands winnings percentage on his second serve ( 76%) was much better than that of Basilashvili ( 55%). But, Basilashvili’s winning percentage on his first serve ( 78%) was better than that of Brands ( 69%).

World No 53 Matteo Berrettini, 22, Italy, beat World No 106 Denis Istomin, 32, Uzbekistan, 6-4, 7-6 to march into the second of the tournament. Berrettini fired 10 Aces in the match to 3 by Istomin, who committed 2 double faults. Berrettini won 2 break points to 1 by Istomin, who had defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic, 31, Serbia, in the second round of Australian Open in 2017 in five sets.

World No 51 Jan-Lennard Struff, 28, Germany, beat World No 122 Stefano Travaglia, 27, Italy, a qualifier, 6-4, 6-3 to enter the second round. Struff fired 12 Aces in the match to 5 by Travaglia. Struff also won 2 break points in the match besides winning 3 games in a row.