American Martin Damm Jr. produced the biggest shock of the day by eliminating Poland's Hubert Hurkacz (7th) in the first round of the ATP 250 in Montpellier, which marks the start of the indoor tournament season in Europe. Damm Jr., currently ranked 160th in the ATP rankings, won 7-6(5), 6-4 in a match that lasted one hour and 32 minutes. In this way, the American knocked out one of the top title contenders, who is still trying to regain his best form after a long layoff due to injury. Damm Jr. came through qualifying by defeating the Frenchmen Matteo Martineau and Clement Tabur. In the quarterfinals, he will face Spanish player Roberto Bautista Agut, who defeated Australian Christopher O'Connell in three sets on Monday. In another match on Tuesday, fifth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert had a solid performance to defeat Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, while fellow Frenchman Titouan Droguet defeated Briton Jan Choinski 6-2, 7-6(2). Meanwhile, Spanish player Pablo Carreño Busta had to suffer greatly to defeat Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, with a score of 4-6, 6-3, and 7-6(4). According to the Argentine News Agency, the action for the top contenders at the ATP 250 in Montpellier — Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime (1st), Flavio Cobolli (2nd), Tomas Machac (3rd), and Tallon Griekspoor (4th) — will begin on Wednesday or Thursday, as they will debut directly in the quarterfinals.
