Kazakhstan's No. 2 men's singles player, Alexander Shevchenko, won his first-round match at the ATP 250 tournament in Sweden, infohub.kz reports.
In the opening match, Shevchenko, ranked 107th in the world, faced world No. 61 Adrian Mannarino. The Kazakh took control from the first games and comfortably won the opening set 6:1. Shevchenko was also the stronger player in the second set, taking it 6:3 to close out the match in one hour and ten minutes.
During the match, Alexander hit six aces, double-faulted twice and converted six of 11 break points.
Kazakhstan's No. 2 player thus advanced to the second round, where he will face Norway's Casper Ruud, ranked 18th in the ATP rankings. The Norwegian, seeded second, began his campaign directly in the second round.
The winner of the upcoming match will secure a place in the quarterfinals.
Note that the total prize money at the Stockholm tournament is 723,435 euros. The champion will earn 110,055 euros and receive 250 ranking points.