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Chung advances as young stars shine in Montreal

Montreal - South Korea's Chung Hyeon withstood 16 aces to beat 2014 semi-finalist Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3) on Tuesday in the first round of the ATP Montreal Masters.

After the third set went to the tiebreaker without a break of serve, the 21-year-old South Korean -- ranked 56th in the world -- built a 4-2 advantage and went on to secure the victory in two hours and 16 minutes.

Chung was just one of the rising talents touted by the ATP as the tour's "NextGen" stars to advance on Tuesday.

Croatian 20-year-old Borna Coric breezed past Russian lucky loser Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with top-seeded Rafael Nadal.

Coric has won two of three prior encounters with the Spanish great, who won a 10th French Open title this year and can regain the world number one ranking with a run to the semi-finals this week.

American Ernesto Escobedo, 21 years old and ranked 85th in the world, got his chance as a luckly loser when 10th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych withdrew with a rib injury.

Escobedo stepped in and defeated Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Berdych, a semi-finalist at Los Cabos in Mexico last week, tweeted his regret at having to withdraw.

"I am sorry I have to apologize (to) all my Montreal fans," tweeted Berdych, who had played in 12 straight Canadian Masters. "I couldn't play, because of my rib disfunction I need to get well to go to office soon!!"

Tuesday's schedule included two second-round matches, with world number seven Dominic Thiem of Austria closing out the night session on Court Central against Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.

Thiem, seeded third, has a 3-0 career record against Schwartzman, but has lost his opening match in Canada in each of three previous appearances.

In other second-round action, American Jared Donaldson takes on France's Benoit Paire. Donaldson upset 13th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France on Monday.

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