By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, April 24, 2018
David Goffin denied a second-set match point to move forward in Barcelona.
Goffin battled back from a double break down rallying past Spaniard Marcel Granollers 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, to advance to the Barcelona round of 16.
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Down 1-5 in the second set, Goffin saved match point eventually holding.
The fourth-seeded Belgian broke in the eighth game then broke again to level for 5-all before taking the second-set tie break.
Goffin will play either Leonardo Mayer or 16th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov for a quarterfinal spot.
Roberto Carballes Baena swept Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer, 6-2, 6-4 setting up an all-Spanish second-round showed with 10-time champion Rafael Nadal.
Fresh of his record-extending 11th Monte-Carlo championship, Nadal has won a personal-best 36 consecutive sets on clay.
In an all-lefty clash, Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan fended off Federico Delbonis, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4.
Klizan saved seven of 10 break points in a two hour, 56-minute victory.
The 140th-ranked Klizan will face sixth-seeded Novak Djokovic tomorrow.
Djokovic, who has won all four prior meetings vs. Klizan, took a wild card into the tournament.
The Djokovic-Klizan match will be the second match played on the tournament's Rafa Nadal Court on Wednesday following second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov vs. Gilles Simon.
Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez lashed 13 aces and fought off 11 of 13 break points defusing Dusan Lajovic, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, to set up a a round of 16 meeting with either Djokovic or Klizan
No. 8-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut broke serve three times defusing Ivo Karlovic, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4. Bautista Agut will play either ninth-seeded Korean Hyeon Chung or American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo for a place in the last eight.
Tunisia's Malek Jaziri dispatched American Ernesto Escobedo 6-4, 6-3. Jaziri, who defeated Tennys Sandgren in his opener, will play either Dimitrov or Simon for a quarterfinal spot.