TennisNH

Paul Leads Opening Day Winners In Delray Beach

07-Jan-2021 22:33:00 | ATP World Tour

Fifth-seeded Tommy Paul needed just over an hour to defeat Ji Sung Nam in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4 and make a winning start to the new season on Thursday at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.

Paul, a resident of Delray Beach, is one of 13 Americans in the draw and currently sits at a career-high No. 52 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. He's looking to continue with the momentum that last year saw him reach the semi-finals in Adelaide as well as record his biggest win to date over No. 7 Alexander Zverev in Acapulco.

The American fired five aces and converted four of the six break points on offer to see off Nam, who was making his Delray Beach debut.

Paul will face countryman Sebastian Korda in the next round, after the 20-year-old defeated Soonwoo Kwon in straight sets to advance.

Joining Paul in the second round is sixth-seeded Sam Querrey, who snapped a five-match losing streak to claim a milestone win against Mackenzie McDonald.

“This is my first win as a dad, so that’s kind of nice,” Querrey said in his on-court interview. Querrey served up 13 aces and won 83% of points behind his big first serve to see off McDonald 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 10 minutes.

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Gianluca Mager awaits Querrey in the second round. The Italian won his first match at Delray Beach after a tight three-set battle against wildcard Ryan Harrison. Mager won 77% of points behind his first serve, and fired nine aces en route to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Also in action in South Florida, Thiago Monteiro took down Thomaz Bellucci in an all-Brazilian clash to book a showdown with the second-seeded John Isner. Monteiro, ranked No. 84, only dropped serve once during their hour and 40-minute clash to win 6-3, 7-5.