Karlovic upsets sixth-seeded Harrison at New York Open

[February 16, 2018]  Ryan Harrison's tumultuous run at the New York Open ended in an upset just shy of the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Croatian Ivo Karlovic sent the sixth-seeded Harrison off with a 6-4, 6-4 win, landing 16 aces to Harrison's six during the match. Harrison had been accused of using a racial slur during his opening match against fellow American Donald Young on Monday.

The ATP announced Thursday it had investigated the incident and found no evidence Harrison had called Young anything derogatory.

Karlovic next faces second-seeded American Sam Querrey, who beat Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4, 6-3 in Thursday's final singles match.

"He's a pain to play. He's got a big serve. Against a guy with a huge serve you have to worry about your own serve," Querrey said of facing Karlovic, who is just an inch shy of 7-feet, tomorrow.

The tournament's top seed, Kevin Anderson of South Africa, also advanced in his first match of the event, but not without a challenge.

Facing American qualifier Ernesto Escobedo, Anderson dropped the first set 3-6, before recovering to win the second set 6-4.

 

"Playing Thursday is pretty late in the week and you are playing against an opponent who has already won three matches. He has a good sense of the conditions and I think that showed a little bit in the first set," Anderson said afterward.

In the final set, Escobedo pushed Anderson to the limit before the more seasoned pro won a final set tiebreak. The final score was 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a match that lasted nearly two hours.

Anderson next faces American Frances Tiafoe, who also needed three sets to get past Dudi Sela of Israel. Sela's bid for the upset was stymied in part by a half dozen double faults.

--Field Level Media

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