French tennis player Nicolas Mahut has reached the second-round of the Madrid Masters. The world number 48 defeated top-ranked male American tennis player Jack Sock on Monday. The Frenchman prevailed over the number 14 seed in a tight encounter 6-4 0-6 7-6 (7-4). Sock had a 4-2 lead in the third set tie-break but couldn't hold on to win the match. Mahut went on to win five points in a row after trailing 2-4, which saw him win the tie-break with a 7-4 result. It took an hour and 58 minutes for the clash to come to an end.
France's Mahut has now clinched his first win on clay in the 2017 tennis season.
Before this week's Madrid event, his only appearance on the dirt came at the Monte Carlo Masters. The Frenchman didn't have a notable campaign in Monte Carlo, losing to promising Karen Khachanov in the first-round. The 2016 Wimbledon men's doubles champion Mahut now has a 1-0 edge over Sock in their head-to-head record. The match in Madrid was their first meeting.
Next up: Cuevas
Clay court specialist Pablo Cuevas has a second-round meeting with Nicolas Mahut after overcoming qualifier Thomaz Bellucci. Uruguay's Cuevas was made to work by the Brazilian tennis player in his opening match at the Madrid Masters. The world number 27 made it past the 54th ranked Brazilian in the end 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 7-6 (8-6).
Bellucci had a 6-5 30-15 lead on his serve in the third set, but Cuevas didn't give up and the match went to a tie-break. Veteran Cuevas opened up a 6-2 lead in the tie-break before the qualifier stormed back to make the result even at 6-6. However, that was all from Brazil's Bellucci, who then lost two straight points and the match eventually.
Cuevas hit seven aces and converted each of his two break point chances in the match. The match finished after two hours and 34 minutes. The head-to-head record between the two now stands at 3-3.
Ferrer survives
2013 Roland Garros runner-up David Ferrer had to create a comeback in order to prolong his campaign at the Madrid Masters.
The Spaniard handed a loss to qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in a three-set battle 2-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-4. Kukushkin of Kazakhstan was close to beating Spain's Ferrer for the first time in his career. The qualifier had a 6-2 3-1 lead but wasn't able to clinch the win. The Spaniard saved 11-of-14 of the qualifier's break point chances in two hours and 28 minutes of action. Ferrer, who now has seven wins and zero losses against Kukushkin, will be taking on the winner of the match between Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Andrey Kuznetsov.
