Benjamin Bonzi reaches Winston-Salem second round

Benjamin Bonzi has reached the second round of the ATP tournament in Winston-Salem, setting up an all-French meeting with Quentin Halys. The 109th-ranked player earned that progress by defeating Kamil Majchrzak, who is ranked 72nd, in a match that tested Bonzi late in both sets.

Bonzi won 6-4, 7-6 (7) on the hard court after 1 hour and 50 minutes. Majchrzak made the stronger start to the opening set, moving 4-2 ahead after Bonzi had saved an early break point. The Frenchman then changed the momentum, taking four games in succession to claim the set. He converted his first break opportunity on the second attempt and later secured another break at 4-4 before serving out.

The second set followed a similarly tight pattern. Bonzi broke in the opening game, but Majchrzak levelled at 4-3. The Frenchman then faced another major threat on serve, saving a break point that would also have given his opponent a set point. Neither player managed to pull clear after that, sending the set into a tie-break.

Bonzi held the advantage in the decider when he earned his first match point at 6-5, but Majchrzak stayed alive. At 7-6, Bonzi had to save a set point of his own before finally finishing the contest at 8-7. His reward is a second-round match against Halys, the tournament’s 12th seed, who was exempt from the opening round.