Klizan Beats Thiem On Day Of Kitzbühel Upsets

The top four seeds — Dominic Thiem, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Fernando Verdasco and Robin Haase — at the Generali Open all made second-round exits on Wednesday.

Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan recorded the fourth Top 10 victory of his 12-season pro career (4-18 lifetime). Klizan beat 2014 finalist Thiem, currently No. 8 in the ATP Rankings, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5, breaking in the final game of their two-hour Kitzbühel encounter. Klizan is now 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

“The first set was really bad, but then I played better,” said Thiem. “Sets two and three were okay, [but] it’s very bitter for me. The atmosphere was great in the stadium today, there were some good rallies. It could have been a great start into the tournament, but losing it in the end is very disappointing.”

Klizan will next challenge eighth-seeded Serbian Dusan Lajovic, who lost just four of his first-service points to beat wild card Dennis Novak of Austria 6-2, 6-4 in 68 minutes. Lajovic reached the Kitzbühel semi-finals in 2016 (l. to Basilashvili).

Earlier in the day, Uzbekistani qualifier Denis Istomin got the better of second seed Kohlschreiber for the second time this year (also MercedesCup) with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win in two hours and nine minutes. Istomin, who let slip a 5-3 lead in the first set, will now face another German, sixth seed Maximilian Marterer, who lost seven of his first-service points to defeat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-4 in 74 minutes.

Chile’s Nicolas Jarry reached his sixth ATP World Tour quarter-final (or better) this year by overcoming third-seeded Spaniard Verdasco 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 12 minutes. Jarry led 6/3 in the first-set tie-break, but regrouped for his 21st win of the year. He will now play Italian Matteo Berrettini, last week’s J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad titlist, who beat Radu Albot of Moldova 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-1 in just under two hours.

Spaniard Jaume Munar knocked out fourth-seeded Dutchman Haase, the 2011 and 2012 champion, 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour and 36 minutes. He’ll next play Japan’s Taro Daniel, this year’s TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (l. to Jaziri) finalist, who beat Laslo Djere or Serbia 6-3, 6-2 in 76 minutes.

In-Form South Americans Begin Doubles Campaign
Top seeds Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos, going for their third ATP World Tour crown in as many weeks, got their Kitzbühel campaigns off to a winning start with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Kevin Krawietz and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo. Over the past two weeks they have captured trophies at the SkiStar Swedish Open (d. Bolelli-Fognini) and the German Tennis Championships 2018 presented by Kampmann (d. Marach-Pavic).