Grigor Dimitrov got his campaign at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open off to a winning start on Wednesday when the second seed defeated qualifier Adrian Ungur 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 14 minutes. He is now 16-8 on the year and next challenges sixth seed Jiri Vesely or Roberto Carballes Baena. Last year, Dimitrov reached the semi-finals (l. to Cuevas).

Federico Delbonis, the fourth seed, who is two spots off his career-high of No. 34 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, got the better of Dudi Sela 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 and now faces eighth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the last eight. Ramos-Vinolas knocked out ATP Next Generation wild card Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Sofia Champions Fall In Doubles Opener

Fourth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop, who picked up their first ATP World Tour title at Sofia (d. Oswald/Shamasdin) in February by winning all four of their matches in Match tie-breaks, lost in the first round. Carlos Berlocq and Teymuraz Gabashvili won 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 10-4.

Day Four Preview

It took Bernard Tomic only one week of the 2016 season to reach a career-high No. 17 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Since then, he has been the No. 1 seed at four ATP World Tour 250 events, including the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. But life on top hasn’t been easy for the Aussie. He has yet to reach a semi-final as a No. 1 seed, posting his only two wins over players outside the Top 100. Tomic’s challenge will be tougher in Istanbul on Thursday as he meets Diego Schwartzman, who fell to No. 1 seed Roger Federer 26 62 75 in the 2015 Istanbul semi-finals.

Also inside Garanti Koza Arena, No. 3 seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia faces Dusan Lajovic of Serbia. Karlovic has been stuck on 299 career wins since October, losing eight straight matches while struggling with a left knee injury. Thursday may be his lucky day as he enters with a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head record against Lajovic, who is 0-6 lifetime against Croatian opponents.

In-form players open the action on Thursday when Illya Marchenko meets Damir Dzumhur. Marchenko has 10 wins on the season, his most since earning 18 in 2010. Dzumhur has a career-high 12 wins in 2016, highlighted by victories over No. 5 Rafael Nadal and No. 7 Tomas Berdych. Play concludes with No. 5 seed Marcel Granollers against Next Generation star Hyeon Chung.

Juan Martin del Potro scored his first win on clay in nearly three years at the BMW Open by FWU AG on Wednesday. The Tandil native won 7-6(2), 6-4 against German Dustin Brown and advanced to the second round. Del Potro’s previous clay court ATP World Tour event was Rome 2013, when he fell in the third round to Benoit Paire.

“I’m very happy to win my first match in three years on clay,” del Potro said. “I was quite nervous at the end of the match and didn’t serve as well as I did early in the match. He played better in the end too. But for the conditions, we played a nice match.

“I feel better. I am starting to hit my topspin backhand, which is what I need on this surface. I am looking forward to getting even better and hitting harder on my backhand.”

The Argentine landed 71 per cent of first serves and broke serve three times in the 82-minute win. He will face Jan-Lennard Struff in his next match. The German upset seventh seed Vasek Pospisil 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2. Del Potro last won consecutive tour-level matches on clay at Roland Garros in 2012 (l. to Federer in quarter-finals).

Third seed Dominic Thiem fired six aces in defeating Santiago Giraldo 7-5, 6-4. The Austrian saved three break points in the 93-minute second-round win and leveled the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Giraldo at 1-1. The 22 year old will face Ivan Dodig, who beat sixth seed Thomaz Bellucci 7-6(5), 6-3, in the quarter-finals.

Fabio Fognini, the fifth seed and 2014 runner-up (l. to Klizan), required just 57 minutes to beat 20-year-old wild card Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 6-1  for a place in the second round.

Eighth seed Alexander Zverev, an ATP #NextGen player, saved 11 of 12 break points to knock out Malek Jaziri 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 11 minutes in the first round.

Seeded Teams Cruise In Doubles

Second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah defeated Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Santiago Gonzalez 6-2, 6-2 in 56 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals on Wednesday. The Colombian duo saved both break points faced and remain on track to earn their third clay-court title of the year (Rio and Buenos Aires).

Also into the final eight are third seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers, who downed German wild cards Kevin Krawietz and Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 6-2 in 53 minutes. Austrians Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya, seeded fourth, beat Germans Gero Kretschmer and Alexander Satschko 6-4, 6-3.

Day Four Preview

The BMW Open by FWU AG has been won by the likes of Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Guillermo Vilas, but no player has more victories in Munich than Germany’s own Philipp Kohlschreiber. The two-time champion and four-time finalist makes his 12th tournament appearance Thursday against countryman Florian Mayer. Kohlschreiber, who captured the title in 2007 and 2012, is 24-9 in Munich, ahead of Mikhail Youzhny (21-11) and Tommy Haas (20-11).

The Next Generation of German tennis precedes Kohlschreiber vs. Mayer on Center Court when 19-year-old Alexander Zverev meets Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic. Zverev is 0-3 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Rosol, including a straight-set loss in the deciding rubber of a Davis Cup tie in March.

No. 1 seed David Goffin plays his first match of the 2016 tournament on Court 1 against Victor Estrella Burgos. Goffin is ranked a career-high No. 13 following semi-final runs at ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. But the Belgian is still seeking his first title in more than 19 months. Estrella Burgos has captured two titles in that time, both on the clay courts of Quito.

American Ernesto Escobedo reached his first ATP Challenger Tour final last week in Sao Paulo, but the teenager proved he has the tools to ensure it likely won’t be his last.

Standing at 6’1” and with a highly aggressive baseline game, one might assume that Escobedo’s style of play wouldn’t translate to slow clay courts. The 19-year-old proved any doubters wrong by showing off impressively smooth movement and the ability to play defense when necessary. He weathered a marathon second-round match against No. 2 seed Joao Souza before prevailing in another three-set match in the semi-finals against last year’s finalist in Sao Paulo, No. 7 seed Christian Lindell.

Although he lost in the championship match on Sunday to Gonzalo Lama, he became the seventh different American teenager – and 10th in total – to reach an ATP Challenger Tour final since last October.

“I never expected that this tournament would be my first ATP Challenger Tour final,” said Escobedo. “I was playing really aggressive and, to be honest, that’s my game. That result gives me a lot of confidence and now I feel like I can play more freely.”

Although Escobedo grew up in California hard courts and feels most at home on them, he believes he has the ability to enjoy success on all surfaces in the years to come.

“I’ve always thought I could be a really good clay-courter. I’m just not as used to the surface,” said Escobedo. “Americans can play on clay. It’s just a stereotype that we don’t know how to.”

With a new career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 260, Escobedo said he will move on from Futures tournaments and focus primarily on the ATP Challenger Tour as he continues to build his game.

“It’s been such a great experience being on tour,” said Escobedo. “It’s been very important for me because I feel that I can play my game against good players and get good results. Hopefully I can keep improving my game”