Russian Roman Safiullin upset French fifth seed Alexander Muller 7-6(5) 7-5 in a tight opening-round contest at the Mallorca Open on Monday, while Corentin Moutet overcame home favourite Pedro Martinez 4-6 6-3 6-0 to reach the round of 16.
Safiullin put pressure on Muller from the outset but the Frenchman fought hard to force a first-set tiebreak, which the Russian then claimed 7-6(5).
Muller, who has only two career wins on grass, took a two-game lead in the second but Safiullin recovered to clinch it and will next face Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic.
Muller’s compatriot Moutet, fresh off his stunning victory over Taylor Fritz at Queen’s last week, struggled with frustration in the first set against Martinez, smashing rackets and voicing his anger before losing the opener.
The second set saw a more composed Moutet, who capitalised on Martinez’s injury concerns to level the match before sealing a berth in the next round with a bagel in the decider.
“I’m coming from Queens, so I didn’t have much time to recover,” Moutet said. “I was trying to recover from the long matches I played there.
“I know you were rooting for the Spanish guy, so sorry for that, but I’m happy to be here one more round in a few days.”
Moutet will now play German eighth seed Daniel Altmaier.
