Wed, Feb 18, 2015 page18

• Dolgopolov outplays Gabashvili in Delray Beach first round

  • AP, DELRAY BEACH, Florida
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  Third-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine won just his second match of the ATP season with a 7-6(7-4), 6-3 victory over Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili in the first round of the Delray Beach Open on Monday.

  He was joined in the second round by wild-card Denis Kudla, a 22-year-old resident of nearby Boca Raton, who beat Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-3, 6-4.

  Dolgopolov, who went 14-4 during a spring swing last year that included wins over then-world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, has struggled since undergoing knee surgery in May last year. He had a scare during the Australian Open last month when he felt knee pain and his surgeon suggested he take two months off to recover.

  

  Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine hits a return against Filip Krajinovic of Serbia during the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday.

  Photo: AFP

  Despite an admittedly nervous start against Gabashvili, Dolgopolov gained confidence as the match went on. He had nine aces, including one on match point.

  Kudla also had some self-doubt before ousting Lacko. He double-faulted on game points three times, including while serving for the match, though he ultimately held serve each time.

  Ivo Karlovic, who lost to Dustin Brown in two previous meetings last year, beat the 30-year-old in a night match 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-2.

  The fourth-seeded Karlovic, who has a towering serve that led to 23 aces, double-faulted to drop the second set. It was the fourth career tiebreaker he has lost to Brown. However, the 35-year-old, the oldest player in the draw, rebounded by breaking Brown in the fifth game of the third set when Brown double-faulted then didn’t drop another game.

  Karlovic lost to Brown in Doha last year, despite being up a set and holding four match points in the second-set tiebreaker. Earlier this year he reached the semi-finals in Doha before losing to David Ferrer.

  With qualifiers Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan and Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia, and wild-cards Andrey Rublev from Russia and American Stefan Koslov all younger than 20, the Delray Beach Open represents the first time since Brisbane in January 2012 that four teenagers are in an ATP main draw.

  Eric Butorac and Rajeev Ram of the US beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan and Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan, 7-5, 4-6, 10-4.

  ? open 13

  AP, MARSEILLE, France

  Rising teen star Borna Coric of Croatia beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 7-5 to reach the second round of the tournament on Monday.

  In October last year, the 18-year-old Coric upset second-seeded Rafael Nadal in straight sets to reach the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors and announce himself as one of the rising stars of tennis.

  Although Istomin had more aces — nine to Coric’s three — he dropped his serve three times compared to once for the Croatian.

  Colin Fleming and Jonathan Marray of the UK defeated Hsieh Cheng-peng and Lee Hsin-han of Taiwan 3-6, 6-3, 11-9.

  Also on Monday, Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky downed eighth-seeded Czech player Lukas Rosol 6-3, 6-2 in less than one hour.

  The 29-year-old Stakhovsky was in clinical form, serving nine aces and breaking Rosol’s serve twice in each set, while not facing a single break point on his serve in the match.
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