Sebastian Baez returns to Bucharest with stylish win

No. 5 seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina kicked off his stay at the Tiriac Open with a breezy 6-3, 6-1 win over Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas in Round of 32 action Tuesday in Bucharest, Romania.

A finalist in this event a year ago, Baez saved all five break points he faced while converting 4 of 5 against Gaubas.

He won 6 of 7 net points and will face Titouan Droguet in the next round, after the Frenchman beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 1-6, 6-1.

Sixth seed Daniel Altmaier of Germany, seventh seed Mariano Navone of Argentina and eighth seed Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands all advanced in straight sets as 12 matches were played after Monday’s schedule was rained out.

The other winners were Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmer Moller of Denmark, Dino Prizmic of Croatia, Alexander Schevchenko of Kazakhstan and qualifiers Daniel Merida of Spain, Alex Molcan of Slovakia and Stefanos Sakellaridis of Greece. Grand Prix Hassan II Polish fifth seed Kamil Majchrzak and Peruvian seventh seed Ignacio Buse each needed three sets to advance through the first round in Marrakech, Morocco.

Majchrzak won 44 of 49 first-service points (89.8%) to take down Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3.

Buse saved 6 of 9 break points and overcame 47 unforced errors to win a three-hour battle with Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-4. Also moving on were Frenchmen Luca Van Assche and Alexandre Muller, Argentines Marco Trungelliti and Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Mattia Bellucci of Italy and Rafael Jodar of Spain.

US Men’s Clay Court Championship Seeded US players Brandon Nakashima and Alex Michelsen prevailed in opening- round matches at Houston. Nakashima, the No. 5 seed, logged a 7-6 (0), 6-2 victory over fellow American Martin Damm.

Michelsen downed Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong 6-4, 6-2.

In an all-Argentina battle, sixth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry rallied past qualifier Federico Agustin Gomez 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in Houston. Gomez racked up a 30-9 advantage in winners but committed 36 unforced errors to help Etcheverry.

American wild card Nishesh Basavareddy was also a three-set winner, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 over Canadian qualifier Liam Draxl.

Australians Rinky Hijikata and Alexei Popyrin both beat US opponents.

Hijikata topped Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-2, and Popyrin rallied past Patrick Kypson 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.