Cezar Crețu achieved the victory of his career at the Concord Iasi Open! The tennis player from Iași eliminated the 4th favorite, the Argentinian Roman Andres Burruchaga, in the first round. Radu Mihai Papoe and Sebastian Gima qualified on the main draw

The inaugural day of the ATP Challenger 100 Concord Iași Open also brought the first big surprise. Fortunately, produced by a Romanian athlete, born in Iași. Cezar Crețu, 23 years old, 376th ATP place, player trained by Victor Hănescu, qualified for the round of 16 after defeating the Argentinian Roman Andres Burruchaga, 22 years old, world number 142, favorite 4, score 6- 4, 6-3.
With a much improved serve from previous years, with the first serve often going over 200km/h, Cezar played a solid game against the South American and claimed the biggest win of his career. Crețu led 5-1 in the first set, the South American came close to 5-3, but the Romanian athlete closed the set with a break. In the second set, Cezar Crețu came back from 0-2 and quickly distanced himself to 5-2, finally closing the match with a short lead, 6-3.
The athlete from Iași reached the eighth in Iași for the second time, after winning in 2020, from the 1105th place in the world, in front of a player from the top 300.
For his presence in the round of 16, Cezar Crețu will receive 7 ATP points and a check worth 1,960 euros.
In the next round, the athlete from Iasi will play the winner between Dmitry Popko (Kazakhstan) and Murkel Dellien (Bolivia).
And the 7th favorite left the tournament already in the first round, Brazilian Gustavo Heide, 22 years old, 185th ATP, being defeated by Ukrainian Vitaliy Sachko, 26 years old, world number 281, score 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-3. Czech Dalibor Svrcina (21 years old, 255 ATP) also qualified for the round of 16, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 with French Maxime Janvier (27 years old, 225 ATP).
Radu Mihai Papoe and Sebastian Gima qualified on the main draw
Also on Monday, the six decisive matches of the qualifiers were played, with the stake being access to the main draw. Romania had five representatives in the 2nd round of the qualifications, and two of them, Radu Mihai Papoe and Sebastian Gima, got the ticket for the draw.
Sebastian Gima, 22 years old, 543rd ATP place, defeated the 16-year-old Alejandro Mateo Berge Nourescu, beneficiary of the wild card, score 6-2, 6-2, and Radu Mihai Papoe (21 years old), the place 617 ATP, got past Latvia's Robert Strombachs, world number 452, favorite 5 in the qualifiers, score 6-2, 6-0.
Vlad Andrei Dancu was defeated by the Czech Michael Vrbensky, and Dan Alexandru Tomescu lost to the Russian Bogdan Bobrov.
Seven Romanians in Tuesday's program
Tuesday will be a busy one at the Ciric Sports Base, the three courts will host 14 games, one doubles and 13 singles.
There will also be seven Romanian players in the program. In the first match on "Central", from 10.30, Sebastian Gima, coming from the qualifications, will face the Jordanian Abdullah Shelbayh, after which Filip Cristian Jianu will meet the Russian Bogdan Bobrov, coming from the qualifications. Nicholas David Ionel (against the Spaniard Javier Cosano) and Gabi Boitan (against the American De Alboran) will also play on the Central Court.
Radu Mihai Papoe, who also came from the qualifications, will play on Court 5 with Frenchman Valentin Royer, and the last two Romanians on the board, Cezar Crețu and Bogdan Pavel, will pair up in doubles, also on Court 5, not before 4:00 p.m. .
Also on Tuesday, the first two favorites will also debut at the Concord Iași Open. Argentina's Camilo Ugo Carabelli (no. 1 favorite) will play the Czech Jiri Vesely, and Spain's Albert Ramos Vinolas, the second favorite, will meet Argentina's Juan Pablo Ficovich.
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The results recorded on Monday, July 8:
Qualifications / Round 2
[1] Michael Vrbensky (Czech Republic) - [9] Vlad Andrei Dancu (Romania) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
[12] Radu Mihai Papoe (Romania) - [5] Robert Strombachs (Latvia) 6-2, 6-0
[10] Sebastian Gima (Romania) - [WC] Alejandro Mateo Berge Nourescu (Romania) 6-2, 6-2
[2] Alejo Lorenzo Lingua Lavallen (Argentina) - [11] Vladyslav Orlov (Ukraine) 6-3, 6-2
[3] Bogdan Bobrov - [8] Dan Alexandru Tomescu (Romania) 6-4, 7-6 (6)
Ilya Snitari (Moldova) - [7] Petr Nesterov (Bulgaria) 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (1)
Simple painting
Dalibor Svrcina (Czech Republic) - Maxime Janvier (France) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
[Other] Vitaliy Sachko (Ukraine) - [7] Gustavo Heide (Brazil) 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-3
[WC] Cezar Crețu (Romania) - [4] Roman Andres Burruchaga (Argentina) 6-4, 6-3

Schedule for Tuesday, July 9:
Central Ground / Start at 10.30am
[Q] Sebastian Gima (Romania) vs Abdullah Shelbayh (Jordan)
[Q] Bogdan Bobrov (Russia) vs [Alt] Filip Cristian Jianu (Romania)
Javier Barranco Cosano (Spain) vs [WC] Nicholas David Ionel (Romania)
Not Before 4:30 PM
Juan Pablo Ficovich (Argentina) vs [2] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Spain)
[WC] Gabi Adrian Boitan (Romania) vs [5] Nicolas Moreno De Alboran (USA)
Field 5 / Start time 10.30
Genaro Alberto Olivieri (Argentina) vs [6] Hugo Dellien (Bolivia)
[Q] Radu Mihai Papoe (Romania) vs Valentin Royer (France)
[1] Camilo Ugo Carabelli (Argentina) vs Jiri Vesely (Czech Republic)
[Q] Michael Vrbensky (Czech Republic) vs Martin Landaluce (Spain)
Not Before 4:00 PM
[WC] Cezar Cretu (ROU) / Bogdan Pavel (ROU) vs Alternate
Field 6 / Start time 10.30
[8] Enzo Couacaud (France) vs Nerman Fatic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo (Paraguay) vs [Q] Alejo Lorenzo Lingua Lavallen (Argentina)
[3] Juan Manuel Cerundolo (Argentina) vs [Q] IIlya Snitari (Moldova)
Dmitry Popko (KAZ) vs Murkel Dellien (BOL)