ATP Delray Beach: Paul rallies to beat Moutet, Brandon Nakashima wins two tiebreaks against Cilic

On February 17 local time, the first round of the men's singles at the 2026 ATP 250 Delray Beach tournament wrapped up. The 5th seed and local star Paul fought for 2 hours and 30 minutes, coming back from behind to beat French player Moutet 4-6/6-3/6-4 and move into the next round.

Paul’s profile image

Their only previous encounter was at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Paul won in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals. In this match, both players showed fluctuating form in the opening set, with Moutet surging with two streaks of three consecutive games to take it 6-4. In the second set, Paul broke serve in the sixth game to pull ahead quickly and leveled the match at 6-3. In the deciding set, despite being broken first, Paul fought back; even though he missed 10 match points during his service game at 5-3, he ultimately won four consecutive points to hold serve and close out the match 6-4. In the second round, Paul will face lucky loser Walton, who defeated Diallo 7-6(4)/6-3 in the first round.

In a first-round highlight, 7th seed Brandon Nakashima battled former US Open champion Cilic in two tiebreak sets, ultimately winning 7-6(4)/7-6(5) in a thrilling contest. Next, Nakashima will face Hong Kong’s Wong Chak-lam across the net, with both competing for a spot in the quarterfinals. Wong advanced from the qualifiers and defeated Portuguese player Borges 7-6(5)/4-6/6-3 in the opening round. Additionally, the tournament’s top four seeds—Fritz, Ruud, Kecmanovic, and Linner—had byes in the first round and will begin their campaigns in round two.

Other match results

Corda defeated McDonald 6-4/7-5

Kecmanovic beat Berrettini 6-1/6-4

[Q] Schweida overcame Kovacevic 7-6(4)/6-3

[NG] Hodar defeated Quinn 6-2/6-3

(Text and editing by: Dato, Photo: Visual China)