Schwartzman Upsets Tomic; Karlovic's 300th Match Win
Schwartzman Upsets Tomic; Karlovic's 300th Match Win
Dr. Ivo celebrates milestone win
Ivo Karlovic snapped an eight-match losing streak on Thursday to record the 300th match win of his career.
The 36-year-old Karlovic, who has struggled to overcome a left knee injury, reached the milestone by knocking out Dusan Lajovic 7-6(11), 7-6(7) at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open.
It was his fourth victory over Lajovic, who failed to convert five set point opportunities at 7/6, 9/8 and 11/10 in the first set tie-break and at 6/4 in the second set tie-break. Karlovic struck 13 aces, losing just five points on his first serve (47 of 52).
Karlovic will next challenge fifth seed Marcel Granollers, who downed Next Generation player Hyeon Chung 6-3, 6-4 in just under two hours.
Diego Schwartzman recorded the biggest match win of his career when the World No. 87 knocked out Bernard Tomic, the top seed at No. 23 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes.
“I feel great here,” admitted Schwartzman, who lost to Roger Federer in last year’s semi-finals. “I’m playing well on these courts, which are slow. I tried to be focused today and I think I played a great match.”
Schwartzman goes onto face Damir Dzumhur, who defeated Illya Marchenko 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in two hours and 14 minutes. “Damir has played well this year and it will be a big match tomorrow,” said Schwartzman.