Karlovic ekes out first-round win in Quito

[February 08, 2018]  Seventh-seeded veteran Ivo Karlovic survived a first-round scare from 21-year-old American Ernesto Escobedo on Wednesday, pulling out a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4) win in the Ecuador Open at Quito.

Karlovic, a 38-year-old Croatian, served 24 aces to outlast Escobedo, a Los Angeles native. Escobedo finished with 16 aces in the 2-hour, 11-minute match.

Karlovic was nearly unbeatable on his first serve, winning 95 percent of the points, though he only put his first serves in play 57 percent of the time. Escobedo was almost as good on his serve, winning 88 percent of his first-serve points and putting 58 percent of the first serves in play.

The win by Karlovic was one of five first-round matches played Wednesday after nearly all of the scheduled Tuesday action was rained out.

Eighth-seeded Nicolas Jarry of Chile also earned a tight victory, beating Argentina's Facundo Bagnis 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Jarry recorded the match's only two service breaks, both in the second set. The final-set tiebreaker was even 5-5 before Jarry captured the last two points.

Italy's Alessandro Giannessi, a lucky loser from qualifying, got past Canada's Peter Polansky 6-3, 6-4. Austria's Gerald Melzer topped Italy's Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 6-2, and Spain's Roberto Quiroz beat Germany's Yannick Hanfmann 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Top-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, second-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain, third-seeded Gael Monfils of France and fourth-seeded Paolo Lorenzi of Italy have yet to play in Quito, as they received first-round byes.

All eight second-round matches are scheduled for Thursday.

--Field Level Media

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