The 2nd day at the Mutua Madrid Open was packed with excitement, colour and some high-quality tennis on a day that was topped off with some perfect spring weather. The fans who came today to the Caja Mágica were able to enjoy the first matches in the men’s qualifiers. 28 players began the battle for the main draw. Half of them will be bidding for their places among the best after making it past the first hurdle.

The Spanish players suffered poor luck on the first day. From the seven who played today, only Nicola Kuhn survived. The 17-year-old player, currently the ATP world number 705, saw off the Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili (world number 61) in two sets (7-5, 6-0).

After a very tight set, Kuhn, born in Austria, took the second set 6-0. The Georgian was not able to take full advantage of his serve (2 out of 13 points on his first service), as the Spaniard secured his position in the second round of the qualifiers. Roberto Carballés fell to Mikhail Youzhny. Despite taking the first set, the Spaniard bowed out in the 3rd (3-6, 6-3, 6-4), this means the Russian will be the one fighting for a place in the main draw.
Today’s results:
A. Mannarino beat J. Munar  3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3
B. Coric beat E. Lopez-Perez 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2
T. Bellucci beat E. Donskoy 7-6(5), 62
N. Kuhn beat N. Basilashvili 7-5, 6-0
A. Seppi beat C. Taberner 6-3, 6-2
D. Istomin beat I. Cervantes 7-6(4), 63
A. Kuznetsov beat C. Ruud 6-4, 6-4
M. Kukushkin beat D. Munoz de la Nava 7-6(5),3-6,6-4
J. Donaldson beat V. Estrella Burgos 6-1, 7-5
S. Giraldo beat T. Monteiro 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4)
L. Lacko beat A. Dolgopolov 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
E. Escobedo beat I. Dodig 6-0, 6-3
P. Herbert beat J. Janowicz 7-6(6), 6-2
M. Youzhny beat R. Carballes Baena 3-6, 6-3, 6-4