Seven years since he last won a match on the ATP World Tour, British world No.324 Brydan Klein has ended the drought with a surprise 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3) win over Facundo Bagnis at the ASB Classic.
The British underdog, who represented Australia until 2013, looked on course for the shock straight sets win with a quartet of match points in the second set tiebreak. Unable to convert all four against the world No.55, Klein dropped the set and seemed destined to suffer another loss. Trailing 2-5 in the decider, the 27-year-old saved a match point before battling back to seal the win.
Klein’s thrilling win is only his second ever main draw victory on the ATP Tour. His first occurred in 2009 when he defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili in the first round at Eastbourne. During his career, the Brit has won one Challenger title (Burnie 2009) and 16 trophies on the Futures tour.
Joao Sousa will be awaiting Klein in the second round. The Portuguese player dropped his serve only once during a 6-1, 7-5, win over fifth seed and training partner Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
“I practice with him a lot at home,” Sousa said of Ramos-Vinolas. “I’m very happy that I won, because he’s a very good player.”
33-year-old Lu Yen-hsun survived a marathon encounter to book his place in the last 16. Yen-Hsun, who reached the Auckland final in 2014, recovered from a set down to battled past world No.51 Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9). Opportunities came a went throughout the decisive set with both players having match point chances. Ultimately, it was the experience of the Taiwan player which prevailed.
“I just struggled at the end serving for the match, I didn’t make enough first serves,” said Yen-hsun, who will play Steve Johnson next.
“The key point is I never gave up in the match, down a score or with match point that I didn’t close, but I still tried to find a way to go through.”
Other wins in Auckland on Tuesday included Ryan Harrison’s one-sided 6-1, 6-2, win over Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-2, and Marcos Baghdatis dismissing Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-4.
