Unseeded Croatian Ivo Karlovic upset second-seeded US player James Blake 6-7 (4), 7-6 (11), 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals of the SAP Open on Thursday.
The 2.08m Croatian, who's ranked 103rd in the world, used 29 aces to beat the sixth-ranked Blake. Karlovic saved five match points in the second tiebreaker.
Blake had Karlovic down 30-love in the second set while leading 5-4, but Karlovic came back to tie the match 5-5 and win it in the tiebreaker.
"After I lost my serve, I knew that it was my only chance to break him and win the set," Karlovic said. "After I won the set, I felt really up. And felt my playing level go up."
After taking the set, Karlovic began to attack Blake's game instead of relying on his booming serve, which was clocked at more than 225kph.
"After winning the second set, I became more aggressive in going after his serve and I felt more confident on the court," Karlovic said.
Karlovic is coming off a left knee injury last year. He faces fifth-seeded Mardy Fish, who defeated Sam Warburg 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
"It's disappointing to lose," Blake said. "There's no one to blame but myself for the errors I made out there. I couldn't make a first serve. I had few match points to get and I couldn't close him out."
Blake had trouble dealing with Karlovic's height and service.
"I wasn't used to dealing with the angle it was coming in," Blake said. "I see a lot of big serves dealing with Andy [Roddick]. But you don't see anyone coming from 6-foot-10. I felt I got on it well enough to win, but I didn't take advantage of him when I need to."
Fourth-seeded Marat Safin of Russia advanced when he defeated unseeded Lu Yen-hsun (
"I had a hard time out there," Safin said. "He doesn't make many unforced errors, I just had to rely on my experience to beat him."
Safin, who is playing in his first SAP Open, faces Germany's Benjamin Becker in the quarter-finals.
In earlier matches, Lee Hyung-taik, Benjamin Becker and Vincent Spadea also reached the quarter-finals.
Lee beat Simon Greul 6-2, 7-6, Becker downed Bjorn Phau 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 and Spadea outlasted Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 7-5, 7-6.
The quarterfinals will feature Spadea, ranked 64th in the world, playing the winner of the match between Sam Querrey and top-seeded Andy Roddick. Lee will face defending champion Andy Murray, and Becker will play the winner of the match between fourth-seeded Marat Safin and Lu.
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