Russia’s Konstantin Kravchuk sprung up a surprise win over fifth seed Guido Pella, winning 6-7 7-6 7-6 in the first round of the ATP Swiss Open in Gstaad.
Kravchuk, ranked 54 places below his 51st-ranked Argentine opponent, fired 12 aces and dropped just one off his 13 break points to prevail in a grueling encounter that went on for two hours and 56 minutes. He, next, takes on Elias Ymer of Sweden for a place in the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, former finalist Robin Haase rallied from a set down to score a 6-7 6-3 6-1 victory against fellow Dutch Thiemo de Bakker to set up a date with Argentine Horacio Zeballos, who clinched a 6-4 6-2 conquest of compatriot Agustin Velotti.
The 253rd-ranked Velotti had lost in the final round of qualifying here, but was recalled into the main draw as lucky loser after Spain’s Fernando Verdasco pulled out of the tournament citing leg pain.
Argentina’s Juan Monaco, who had also finished as the runner-up here previously, was no match for Germany’s Dustin Brown, who took just a minute over an hour to win 6-2 7-5.
The other winners of the day were wildcard Henri Laaksonen (beat Jozef Kovalik 3-6 6-1 7-6) and qualifier Tristan Lamasine (beat Radu Albot 6-4 6-2).
