Kokkinakis outplayed by Korda in Florida

Kokkinakis, who started the year off brilliantly in his hometown of Adelaide which included a maiden main-tour title, faced a tough ask in Florida against fifth-seeded Sebastian Korda who proved too consistent.

The 6-4 6-1 result was a fair indication of Korda's dominance in the one hour 15 minute match.

The American young gun broke the Kokkinakis serve four times, twice in each set, as his crafty game perfectly suited the evening conditions.

Kokkinakis, who rode the wave of emotion on home soil last month to win the Australian Open doubles with Nick Kyrgios, was unable to hold serve at 5-4 down in the opening set and was unable to mount a comeback.

World No.83 Thompson won just one more game than Kokkinakis as he was dispatched 6-2 6-4 by qualifier Mitchell Krueger.

Thompson saved six of nine break points but was unable to get a foothold in the match against a player ranked 81 below him.

In France, seventh-seeded Popyrin won the first set against Roman Safiullin but the Russian fought back to prevail 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3).

The all-French clash between veteran wildcards Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon went the way of the former, 6-2 6-4.

In Qatar, Andy Murray gained revenge over his Australian Open conqueror Taro Daniel with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 success to advance to a meeting with Spanish second seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

On the clay in Rio de Janeiro, former top-10 player Fernando Verdasco accounted for Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to record his first win in an ATP 500 event since 2019.

The 38-year-old Spaniard will next face Federico Coria after the Argentine belted fifth seed Christian Garin 6-2 6-0.

Lorenzo Sonego and Albert Ramos Vinolas were the seeded players to win and progress to the second round of the Rio Open.

Australian Associated Press