By Alberto Amalfi | Monday, April 23, 2018
Ivo Karlovic cranked 29 aces spoiling Spanish wild card Tommy Robredo's return, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 6-4 to burst into the Barcelona second round.
Photo credit: European Open
Ivo Karlovic crashed Tommy Robredo's Barcelona homecoming party.
Karlovic cranked 29 aces spoiling the Spanish wild card's return, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 6-4 to burst into the Barcelona second round.
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It was the first Tour-level match of the season for Robredo, who defeated Gaston Gaudio to win the 2004 Barcelona crown.
The 39-year-old Karlovic, who reached the Houston semifinals earlier this month becoming the oldest ATP semifinalist since a 40-year-old Jimmy Connors made the San Francisco final four in 1993, did not face a break point in the two hour, 14-minute victory.
Karlovic advances to a second-round match with eighth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez denied 11 of 14 break points outdueling Yuichi Sugita, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), in the first meeting between the pair.
The 34-year-old Spaniard meets Monte-Carlo finalist Kei Nishikori next. No. 14-seeded Nishikori has won all three of their prior meetings, sweeping seven of eight sets between the pair.
Dusan Lajovic stopped Spanish wild card Pedro Martinez, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, setting up a second-round clash with another Spaniard, 12th-seeded Feliciano Lopez.
Former Barcelona semifinalist Benoit Paire squeezed out a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4 victory over Nicolas Jarry advancing to a second-round encounter with fifth-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. The 47th-ranked Frenchman has won three of five meetings with Carreno Busta.
Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva swept American Jared Donaldson, 6-3, 6-1, moving into a second-round match with Spain's Alberto Ramos-Vinolas. Dutra Silva fended off Donaldson in five sets at the 2017 Australian Open.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was a 6-4, 6-1 victor over French qualifier Corentin Moutet. Tsitsipas will play seventh-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman next.