Goffin fights back from the brink to beat Granollers

[April 25, 2018]  By Richard Martin

BARCELONA (Reuters) - World number 10 David Goffin survived a scare against Spaniard Marcel Granollers after fighting back from 5-1 down in the second set to win his second round tie in the Barcelona Open on Tuesday 4-6 7-6(2) 6-2.

Granollers, ranked 129 in the world, made a flying start but he never recovered after spurning a match point and collapsed in the latter stages of the second set, losing the tiebreak before being wiped out in the third.

"It's really hard when you are so close and don't kill off the game. It feels very tough to lose today, I'm not thinking positive things right now," Granollers told reporters.

Feliciano Lopez of Spain, who beat Dusan Lajovic 6-4 2-6 6-4, and Malek Jaziri of Tunisia, who downed Ernesto Escobedo 6-4 6-3, will both join Goffin in the third round.

Spaniard Roberto Carbelles Baena earned the right to face world number one and 10-times tournament winner Rafael Nadal on Wednesday after comfortably beating Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-2 6-4 in a first-round match.

Japan's Kei Nishikori also enters the second round on Wednesday after receiving a bye and will face Spaniard Guillermo Garcia Lopez for the right to play Nadal or Carbelles Baena in the last 16, potentially setting up a re-match of last Sunday's Monte Carlo Masters final which Nadal won.

Former world number one Novak Djokovic will face Slovak Martin Klizan in the second round on Tuesday after receiving a late wildcard entry as he continues his comeback from a long injury lay off after getting knocked out in Monte Carlo in the last 16.

"I hadn't planned on coming here but last Thursday when I finished in Monte Carlo we decided we wanted an invite," the Serbian told a news conference.

"I haven't played much this year and I want to play without thinking about my shoulder. Monte Carlo was the first tournament I've played in over a year without any pain and I'm happy about that."

Djokovic could meet Nadal in the quarter-finals if they both win their next two matches.

Spaniard Jaume Munar will meet last year's runner-up Dominic Thiem in the second round after seeing off Joao Sousa 6-4 3-6 7-5.

(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Toby Davis)

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