Steve Johnson gained an important victory at the ASB Classic as he beat Lucky Lose Liam Caruana 7-5 7-6(4) in a tight contest.
The world number 46 played Italian Lucky Loser Liam Caruana, who replaced Ryan Harrison in the draw. The match became a tight affair despite the 351 place gap in the ATP world ranking.
However it was the American, who capitalised on his break point opportunities and broke twice in the match to grab a tight 7-5 7-6(4) victory. The win means he will advance to the second round, where he will play fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round.
In other results at the ASB Classic, Next Gen Finals winner, Hyeon Chung, grabbed a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory over American Lucky Loser, Tennys Sandgren. The South Korean broke Sandgren five times as he secured victory in just over two hours.
While Slovakian Lucky Loser, Lukas Lacko defeated Greek talent Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 to advance to the second round. The world number 90 only lost nine points on serve as he edged out an in-form Tsitsipas.
Here are the other results from Day 2 of the ASB Classic:
Peter Gojowczyk def Tim Smyczek 6-3 4-6 6-3
Robin Haase def Casper Ruud 0-6 7-6(6) 6-3
Jiri Vesely def Radu Albot 3-6 6-1 7-6(7)
