Marcos needed one hour and 37 minutes to dismiss Ricardas Berankis 7-5, 7-5 in his first-round match at the Winston-Salem Open on Sunday. He fired 14 aces, while converting four of seven break chances.
It was Marcos' second win in two encounters with Berankis. They previously met five years ago in Stockholm.
Marcos came under fire late in the first set, but turned it in his favour in a flash. He broke Berankis when the Lithuanian served for the opener at 5-4 and once again broke him two games later. Marcos would reel off six straight games to take the set and streak to a 3-0 lead in the second. He converted his first match point for the victory.
Marcos will next face 16th seed Jiri Vesely in the second round. He leads the head-to-head by a margin of 4-0, with their most recent meeting coming in the Auckland quarterfinals earlier this year. Marcos has won eight of nine sets played. The match will be on Monday, third on Court 2.
