Auckland, New Zealand (SportsNetwork.com) – Seeded players Santiago Giraldo
and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez were a pair of losers Tuesday at the Heineken Open,
a final tune-up for the Australian Open.
French qualifier Kenny De Schepper upended the sixth-seeded Colombian Giraldo
6-2, 6-3, while Argentine Diego Schwartzman doused the seventh-seeded Spaniard
Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 on the hardcourts at ASB Tennis Centre.
Ninth-seeded 2014 runner-up Yen-Hsun Lu moved on by holding off Argentine Juan
Monaco 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
Two-time winner John Isner is not defending his title this year after beating
Taiwan’s Lu in last year’s final.
Meanwhile, American Donald Young overcame Japanese qualifier Go Soeda 6-7
(2-7), 6-1, 6-3.
Additional wins came for Colombian lucky loser Alejandro Falla, wild card
Michael Venus of New Zealand, Spaniards Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pablo Carreno
Busta, and Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely.
This year’s champion will earn $84,500.
