WindyCity Update: Matthew Marches Past Hanson

England’s Nick Matthew began his 2016 Windy City Open title defence with a 3-0 win over spirited American wildcard Chris Hanson who acquitted himself with impressive tenacity on the all-glass court inside the University Club of Chicago.

While Matthew took the match in straight-games to set up what he hopes will be a long and fruitful week in Chicago the younger American challenger will take away plenty of positives after sticking with Matthew to garner a respectable scoreline in all three games but ultimately he couldn’t mount a challenge to truly test the ‘Wolf’.

“It was a pleasure to play Chris,” said Matthew. “I have a lot of respect for guys like him who go out of their way to improve.

“He’s going the right way about it with guys like Rodney Martin in his corner and I had never played him before so it was a tough first round.

“Coming on court as the defending champion in the first round is never easy so it was nice to get a win and enjoy being back out there after some good memories here last year.”

Result:
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [WC] Chris Hanson (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (35m)