Montreal Masters: Carreno Busta saves matchpoints to score first ATP-level win since January 2023

Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 6-3 to move to the second round of the Montreal Masters at Stade IGA on Tuesday.

The Spaniard came from 2-5 down in the second set and saved two matchpoints in the second set tiebreaker before scoring the three-set win.

Carreno Busta had returned to the tour at the French Open in May, scoring just one win (ATP Challenger level) in four tournaments so far into his comeback. He has also missed a major part of the 2023 season due to injuries.

“It’s very special, of course, because I won two years ago here in Montreal, my first ATP Masters 1000. But also it’s very special because the last year and a half, I was out of the Tour because of an injury,” Carreno Busta said prior to his win to the ATP Tour. “To be here again is very important to me. To be on the Tour again after this long time, I didn’t know if would be possible to continue playing tennis or not.”

The Spaniard, who won the title here in 2022 but is currently ranked No 799 in the world, will play Dane Holger Rune, the No 13 seed, next.

Carreno Busta said he has been feeling a lot better physically and has even been looking at Olympic gold medallist Novak Djokovic for inspiration when he had thoughts about retirement.

“Sometimes I just feel the pain when I play tennis. But there were other moments that I felt the pain all the time when I was sleeping, when I was trying to swim on the beach,” Carreno Busta said. “It was crazy because it’s very uncomfortable all the time thinking if there is going to be pain or not.”

“Sometimes I thought about it (retirement). I didn’t want to do it. But when you stop for one and a half years, it’s normal that you think a lot of things. I didn’t know (how) my life (would) continue after retiring. Look at Novak for example. He is 37 and continuing to play at this level. So I hope to be here on the Tour for the next few years.”

Montreal Masters 1000, other first-round matches (Stade IGA, hard, USD 6,795,555):

• Holger Rune beat Roberto Bautista Agut (LL): 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
• Karen Khachanov (16) beat Gabriel Diallo (WC): 6-4, 6-4
• Nuno Borges beat Miomir Kecmanovic: 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Nicolas Jarry: 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-2
• Kei Nishikori beat Alex Michelsen: 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Tallon Griekspoor: 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-4
• Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. Gael Monfils
• Sebastian Korda vs. Vasek Pospisil
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Flavio Cobolli
• Mariano Navone vs. Taylor Fritz
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Arthur Rinderknech
• James Duckworth vs. Marcos Giron
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Tomas Machac
• Denis Shapovalov vs. Brandon Nakashima
• Alexander Bublik vs. Ben Shelton
• Ugo Humbert vs. Arthur Fils
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Roman Safiullin
• Borna Coric vs. Pedro Martinez
• Jordan Thompson vs. Jack Draper
• Rinky Hijikata vs. Taro Daniel
• Mackenzie McDonald vs. Matteo Arnaldi
• Tommy Paul vs. Luciano Darderi
• Frances Tiafoe vs. Alejandro Tabilo

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