BASEL, Switzerland — Top-seeded Andrey Rublev won in his Swiss Indoors debut on Monday and bolstered his hopes of qualifying for a fifth consecutive ATP Finals next month.
The seventh-ranked Rublev beat Nuno Borges of Portugal 6-3, 6-2.
Rublev holds the eighth and final spot for the season-ending ATP Finals. He is trying to stay ahead of ninth-placed Alex de Minaur, who is playing in Vienna.
Fifth-seeded Ugo Humbert fired 13 aces while battling past Swiss qualifier Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-5. Humbert’s second-round opponent will be lucky loser David Goffin, who had his own struggles to put down Matteo Arnaldi of Italy 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2.
Seventh-seeded Arthur Fils also had trouble with German qualifier Daniel Altmaier, winning 7-6 (5), 6-3 only after saving two set points in the first set and coming from a break down in the second.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
