Zagreb, Croatia (SportsNetwork.com) – Marcos Baghdatis upset top seed Ivo
Karlovic in a second-round affair Wednesday at the Zagreb Indoors tennis
event.
The 2007 Zagreb champion and former Australian Open runner-up Baghdatis, of
Cyprus, upended the 6-foot-10 Croatian crowd favorite Karlovic 3-6, 7-6 (7-5),
7-6 (9-7) in just under two hours. The big-serving bout featured 37 aces,
including 26 from the loser. Karlovic also tallied the only service break of
the match in the first set.
Meanwhile, former Zagreb champ Mikhail Youzhny was an easy second-round
winner. The sixth-seeded Russian veteran vaulted past fellow former champion
Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-2, 6-1 at Dom Sportova.
The 32-year-old Youzhny titled here in 2012. Stakhovsky was the 2008 Zagreb
winner.
Youzhny will face Baghdatis in a quarterfinal on Friday.
The first round came to a close with four matches, as eighth-seeded Spaniard
Marcel Granollers topped Austrian left-hander and 2013 Zagreb runner-up Jurgen
Melzer 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); Croatian favorite and 2011 champion Ivan Dodig
dismissed compatriot wild card Mate Delic 6-2, 6-3; Dutchman Igor Sijsling
doused Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic 6-4, 7-5; and Brit James Ward
dismissed Croatian wild card Antonio Veic 6-2, 6-4.
“I felt really good today,” Granollers said of his play against the former
finalist Melzer. “I won a very tough match against a very good player.”
On Thursday, second seed Adrian Mannarino of France will play a second-rounder
against Sijsling.
The 2015 Zagreb champion will collect $90,000.
