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Dhakshineswar Suresh beat Marcos Giron 6-3, 7-5 in 67 minutes at the Winston-Salem Open to record his first ATP Tour victory. The 26-year-old from Madurai entered the draw as a lucky loser after failing to come through qualifying, and had lost his only previous main-draw match at this level. He faces eighth seed Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round.
Winston-Salem, United States: He had already lost once at this tournament. Two days later he was into the second round.
Dhakshineswar Suresh went out in qualifying on Sunday, hitting ten aces in defeat, and was handed a place in the main draw as a lucky loser. On Monday he used it to beat a player who has been inside the world’s top 40, and did it in straight sets inside seventy minutes.
Two Sets, No Alarm
Ranked 400th in the world against Giron’s 83rd, Suresh had the better of the contest throughout. He took the opening set 6-3 and closed out the second 7-5 for a 67-minute win.
It is his first victory in an ATP Tour main draw. He had come into the match with a 0-1 record at this level, his tour experience amounting to a single previous match, though his Challenger and ITF numbers on hard courts read considerably better at 20 wins and 17 defeats.
Giron, 33, arrived in North Carolina having not played for eleven days and on a two-match losing streak. The American reached a career high of world No. 37 and won his sole tour-level title on grass at Newport in 2024.
A Fortnight That Has Turned
The scheduling worked in Suresh’s favour in an unusual way. He had played two matches in two days by the time he faced Giron, while his opponent had been idle for a week and a half. Match sharpness against rest, and on this occasion the sharpness won.
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The 26-year-old arrives at the second round having won six of his last ten matches across all levels. Cerundolo is next — a considerable step up, and a player who lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the round of 32 at Cincinnati last week.
Elsewhere in Winston-Salem
The tournament, an ATP 250 played in the week before the US Open, produced a full opening day.
Stefanos Tsitsipas survived late drama to get past Jenson Brooksby. Lorenzo Sonego, champion here in 2024, beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 and meets ninth seed Adrian Mannarino next. Benjamin Bonzi came through 6-4, 7-6 (7) against Kamil Majchrzak, and Daniel Altmaier beat Francisco Comesana 6-1, 7-6 (6).
None of those results will travel as far in India as the one on the Stadium court, where a qualifier who had already lost took a scalp he was not expected to get.
Result: D. Suresh (IND) d. M. Giron (USA) 6-3, 7-5
Duration: 67 minutes
Next: Suresh v [8] Juan Manuel Cerundolo
Venue: Winston-Salem Open, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
