Karlovic wins battle of ATP Tour veterans in Barcelona

The Barcelona's generation game saw victories for Ivo Karlovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas, while John Millman was among the Budapest winners.

Published : Apr 24, 2018 02:01 IST

Ivo Karlovic saved two match points to win a thrilling encounter between two of the ATP World Tour's elder statesmen at the Barcelona Open on Monday.

The 39-year-old twice stood on the brink of defeat during a second-set tie-break against Tommy Robredo, 35, but came through to win 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.

Playing in the tournament for the first time since 2008, Karlovic will face eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round.

The day also saw the competitions two youngest contenders going head to head, with Stefanos Tsitsipas beating Corentin Moutet 6-4 6-1 in the battle of the 19-year-olds.

Elsewhere in the draw, there were wins for Benoit Paire, Pablo Cuevas and Leonardo Mayer, but Jared Donaldson – fresh from his confrontation with an umpire in Monte Carlo – lost in straight sets to world number 125 Rogerio Dutra da Silva.

Meanwhile, in Budapest, John Millman booked a second-round meeting with defending Hungarian Open champion Lucas Pouille, and Aljaz Bedene, Lorenzo Sonego and Marco Cecchinato also progressed.

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