The Spanish Roberto Bautista fell in the first round of the Metz tournament against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (7-6(3) and 6-3)coming from the previous stage and placed 124th in the ATP ranking, and focused on ending its season with the Davis Cup Finals which will be held in Malaga from November 19 to 24.
The Castellón native, who rose to 47th place from 150th with the title achieved a few weeks ago in Antwerpthe first and just one in 2024 and the twelfth of his careerwas defeated against an opponent who continued his season in second level events, in the ‘challenger’ category.
Bonzi, from Nimes, 28 years old, achieved his first victory in an ATP event against Bautista. Outside of tournaments in the qualifying stages, he has not made it past the first round in any of the six he has played in 2024.
But Roberto Bautista, 36, who reeled off six straight wins before falling to Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the second round in Basel, crashed out after losing the first set in a tiebreaker. Although he started the next with a rest, he didn’t string the rest together and Bonzi grew on the court, spurred on by the crowd and the atmosphere.
In the end, the Frenchman closed out the win after one hour and forty minutes and reached the second round, where he will face Norwegian Casper Ruud, second seed.
Bautista, called by David Ferer, is now focused on his preparation for the Davis Cup Finals in two weeks.
Source: La Verdad
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