The opening day of the Barcelona Open saw underdogs Radek Stepanek and Karen Khachanov book their places in the second round of the tournament.
Stepanek, who is making his eighth main draw appearance at the tournament after coming through two rounds of qualifying, battled his way past world No.91 Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 7-5. The win was far from easy for the Czech veteran, who could only capitalize on three out of his 14 break point opportunities, to seal the match after almost two hours on the court. The triumph is Stepanek’s third main draw win on the ATP Tour this year and his first since the Australian Open.
Awaiting Stepanek in the second round will be third seed David Ferrer, who withdrew from last week’s Monte-Carlo Masters due to a leg injury. The Czech has played Ferrer on 11 previous occasions, losing in eight of them.
Another unlikely winner was 19-year-old Karen Khachanov. The Russian saved a match point before defeating British No.2 Aljaz Bedene 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(2), in a two-hour thriller. The win is likely to elevate him to a career ranking high in next week’s rankings. He is currently ranked 136th in the world, one place below his career best. Next up for Kachanov will be Spanish fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
Nicolas Almagro had two match points in the second set, but failed to take advantage as he eventually succumbed in three sets to Teymuraz Gabashvili – 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-2. Despite firing 10 aces down the line, the 30-year-old struggled with his second serve as the match progressed. Almagro won just 20% of his second service points in the final set (3/15).
The win by Gabashvili has finally ended his run of first round exits. Prior to the Barcelona tournament, the Russian has lost in the first round of his five previous tournaments.
Home fans had two reasons to celebrate on the first day of competition. Albert Montanes won his all-Spanish encounter with Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-3. Meanwhile Ingio Cervantes required just under 80 minutes to dismiss Croatian qualifier, Franko Skugor, 6-3, 6-4.
Finally, Malek Jaziri worked his way past 19-year-old Hyeon Chung 6-3, 6-4. The win takes the Tunisian to a second round meeting with French fourth seed Richard Gasquet.
