Portuguese tennis player Nuno Borges moved into the second round of the Athens tournament Saturday, snapping a string of early exits from recent competitions.
The sixth seed defeated Greek wildcard Stefanos Sakellaridis in straight sets, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
The victory took one hour and 23 minutes, marking Borges’ first win past the opening round since losses in Vienna and Paris.
Borges is currently ranked World No. 46, while Sakellaridis holds a World No. 290 ranking. This was Borges’ second career victory over Sakellaridis; he also won a 2021 Futures event in Antalya.
Borges will next face the winner of the match between Serbia’s Laslo Djere, ranked 85th, and American qualifier Eliot Spizzirri, ranked 100th.
Another Portuguese player, Francisco Cabral, is also competing in Athens in the doubles draw. Cabral and his Austrian partner Lucas Miedler are the second seeds and will face Greek wildcards Dimitris and Stefanos Sakellaridis in their first-round match.