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Ivo Karlovic came to Antwerp in a poor form, losing the last 4 matches on the Tour, but he managed to end that streak today after a hard-fought 3-6 7-5 7-6 triumph over Guido Pella in 2 hours and 11 minutes. Croatian veteran saved 3 match points in the final set tie break to prevail to the second round, winning 5 points more than his rival. Ivo had "only" 15 aces and he saved 2 out of 3 break points, same as Pella, who fought well until the very end, despite winning only 50% of the points on his second serve.
The Argentine saved a break point in the 3rd game of the match and he went on to break Ivo in game 6, opening a 4-2 lead and bringing the set home by 6-3. Interestingly, those 4 points he won on the return were only for him in the entire set, but even that was enough to score a crucial break and create the advantage.
Standing on the edge of defeat, Karlovic fends off 2 break points in game 7 of the second set, and he broke his rival just before the tie break to steal the set by 7-5, despite a game point that Pella had. Both players served well in the decider, with no break points and with only 1 deuce in the last game of the match, and it all came down to the final tie break, that turned to be a real rollercoaster.
Guido had match points at 6-5, 8-7 and 10-9 but all on the return, and Ivo repelled them with good serves. In the end, Croat scored the pivotal mini-break in the 22nd point to steal the breaker by 12-10, converting his 3rd match point to book the place in the second round.
Sergiy Stakhovsky notched his 6th win of the season, edging Jared Donaldson by 7-6 6-4 in an hour and 28 minutes. It was a solid match on both sides, with good first serve percentages and decent performance on the second serve as well, but it was Stakhovsky who was a little bit more efficient on the return, creating 4 break points and converting 1, which made all the difference.
On the other hand, Jared managed to earn only 1 break chance and he failed to take it, hitting an early exit and missing the opportunity to grab some points in the U21 Race to Milan. The first set was quick and dynamic, Stakhovsky saved that break point in the opening game of the match, avoiding an early upset, and he missed his chance on the return in game 10, when Jared fends off 2 set points to send the match into a tie break.
There, the Ukrainian took the last 4 points from 3-4 down, scoring crucial mini-breaks in the last 2 points to wrap up the opening set in his favor. Thye continued to serve well in set number 2 as well, with 8 commanding holds for a 4-4, and Jared was the first who failed to follow that pace, losing his serve in game 9 to come close to a defeat.
Stakhovsky didn't need the second invitation, as he served out for the win in game 10, propelling himself to the next round. Talented Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas qualified for his 10th ATP tournament of the season, pumped after winning his first ATP match last week in Shanghai.
Stefanos had to work really hard to oust the Austrian Sebastian Ofner by 6-7 6-4 6-4 in 2 hours and 8 minutes, firing 11 aces and saving 6 out of 7 break points. Ofner did his best to remain in front after the opening set but he got broken once in each of the next two sets, missing a chance to play for some bigger points, but he will try to score the better result at home in Vienna next week.
The Austrian drew first blood in game 5 when he broke Tsitsipas but he stayed in front only until game 8 when Stefanos got it back to level the score at 4-4. Ofner repelled 2 set points on serve in game 10 and 2 more in the tie break, stealing the breaker by 9-7 to gain the overall lead.
They traded 10 mini-breaks in the first 12 points of the tie break and Sebastian notched another one in the 16th point to bring the set home. Stefanos saved 4 break points in the middle of the second set and that kept him alive, especially after he broke his rival in game 5 to claim the set by 6-4 and send the encounter into a decider.
He opened it with a break and after 4 commanding holds, he had a chance to cross the finish line in game 10. Ofner had his last chance to make a turnaround but he wasted a break point and he never got another one, as Tsitstipas closed the match on his second match point. Monday's results:
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