Blockx, Sakamoto fall in ATP Masters 1000 debuts

#NextGenATP Italian Federico Cina won his first tour-level match on Wednesday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where he defeated Argentine Francisco Comesana 7-6(4), 7-6(2).

The 17-year-old dug deep in the second set, battling through the tie-break after initially squandering a 5-2 lead in the set and a match point on return at 5-3. The wild card raised his arms aloft after sealing victory and he will next play Grigor Dimitrov.

“I’m very happy. It was very difficult. But I’m very happy to win," Cina said. "I started the match very good, played a very good tie-break. Then in the second set, I was [ahead] 5-2, then I got cramps. But it was very good to stay there every point.”

Cina arrived in Miami in form, having reached his first ATP Challenger Tour final last week in Greece. The teen is up two spots to 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah following the biggest victory of his career.

It All Adds Up

Alexander Blockx, the 19-year-old Belgian, was unable to follow Cina into the second round. Blockx was making his Masters 1000 debut after advancing through qualifying but he fell to Frenchman Corentin Moutet 7-6(5), 6-4.

Earlier this season, Blockx captured the second ATP Challenger Tour title of his career in Portugal and is currently fifth in the Live Race To Jeddah.

World No. 76 Moutet will next play Alejandro Tabilo. Moutet’s best result this season came at the Australian Open, where he advanced to the third round at a major for the fifth time.

Japan's Rei Sakamoto was also making his ATP Masters 1000 debut, but fell to Alexandre Muller 6-4, 6-4 after the Frenchman won 84 per cent of his first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Muller, 28, will next face Francisco Cerundolo, whom he leads 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Muller defeated Cerundolo last month in the Rio de Janeiro quarter-finals en route to his first ATP 500 final appearance.