Ivo Karlovic admits it: For a tennis player, he’s old. But, as Karlovic continues to show during the 2018 ATP World Tour season, the Croatian is also still very good.

Just last month, the 38-year-old achieved yet another marker for the history books. The 6’11” Karlovic struck 53 aces to beat Japan’s Yuichi Sugita 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 7-5, 4-6, 12-10 in four hours and 33 minutes. With the win, Karlovic became the oldest player to compete in the Australian Open third round since Australian Ken Rosewall, aged 44, in 1978, when the draw was 64 players. Karlovic also became the oldest player in the Australian Open third round since the advent of a 128-player draw in 1982.

Then again, these types of accomplishments have become something of an annual tradition – if not more often – for Karlovic. In 2017, he was the oldest player to reach the third-round at a Grand Slam since 38-year-old Jimmy Connors at the 1991 US Open. In 2016, Karlovic finished the year at No. 20 – a career best – and was the oldest player in the Top 20 since 43-year-old Rosewall in July 1978.

“It means a lot, because it means that even at my old age I can still do good results. That means a lot,” Karlovic told ATPWorldTour.com. “I am old, I know. But I don’t feel like I’m getting old.”

He harbours no intentions of stopping soon, either. Karlovic, who turns 39 on 28 February, wants to stay healthy throughout 2018. Last year, bumps and niggles to his knee, back and left ankle forced him to miss four events.

But if Karlovic, who has won eight ATP World Tour titles, can stay healthy this year, look forward to plenty more “oldest-ever” records for him again this season. “If I could be healthy all year that would really help a lot,” Karlovic said. “As long as my ranking is up where I can be in all the events, I won’t consider quitting.”

Brazilian Thiago Monteiro snuck in an upset before rain suspended play on Tuesday at the Ecuador Open in Quito.

The 23-year-old knocked off fifth seed Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-4, 7-6(8), saving the only break point he faced in the one-hour and 39-minute match. Monteiro will next face either Italian lucky loser Alessandro Giannessi or Peter Polansky of Canada.

Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena beat Italy’s Federico Gaio 7-6(5), 6-3 in the only other completed match of the day. Wednesday’s play kicks off with seventh seed Ivo Karlovic facing Ernesto Escobedo of the U.S.A.

Russian Karen Khachanov came back from a set down against one of the toughest competitors on the ATP World Tour to advance on Tuesday at the Open Sud de France. The 21-year-old Khachanov beat Spain’s David Ferrer 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, avoiding a single break point in the decider to reach the second round in Montpellier.

Both players were coming off of good runs in Auckland, before the Australian Open. Khachanov reached the quarter-finals at the ASB Classic, Ferrer the semi-finals. They both lost to Juan Martin del Potro. In fact, Khachanov’s two losses this season have come against Del Potro (also second round Australian Open).

Khachanov will next face Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis, who battled past 36-year-old Frenchman Julien Benneteau. Berankis, the World No. 117, saved five of six break points and sealed the win on his second match point.

Gilles Simon needed a third-set tie-break to beat German qualifier Yannick Maden 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(3). Simon, who won the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune to open his 2018 ATP World Tour campaign, looked to be cruising after a 6-1 first set in front of a supportive home crowd. But the 33-year-old ran into trouble as Maden, competing in just his fourth ATP World Tour match, raised his level.

Simon was forced to claw his way back from 2-4 down in the decider, before triumphing in a final-set tie-break to move to 7-2 in 2018. Simon will meet top seed David Goffin in a mouth-watering second-round encounter.

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There were contrasting results for #NextGenATP contenders on the second day of play in southern France.

Jeremy Chardy came from a set down to deny #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas a place in the second round with a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 win after two hours, 13 minutes. Tsitsipas has now lost his past four tour-level matches since reaching the quarter-finals at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

Carlos Taberner, competing in his first match on the ATP World Tour, defeated World No. 137 Norbert Gombos 7-6(5), 7-6(1) in one hour, 53 minutes. The 20-year-old Spaniard was cool under pressure, saving 10 of 11 break points he faced to book a second-round meeting with No. 2 seed Lucas Pouille.

After a stellar end to 2017 and a breakthrough performance at this year’s Australian Open, Maximilian Marterer looks set to be the next German tennis star to break through on the ATP World Tour.

The 22-year-old German won 21 of his 23 matches on the ATP Challenger Tour in September and October to secure three titles, before announcing himself on the world stage with a run to the third round at this year’s Australian Open.

Currently at a career-high No. 82 in the ATP Rankings, Marterer made his intentions clear when asked, ahead of his first-round match against Malek Jaziri at this week’s Diema Xtra Sofia Open, whether he had any goals after breaking into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings late last year.

“I think [setting goals] should never stop,” said Marterer. “The next goal is, at the end of this year, to get to the Top 50.”

The determined left-hander is the second-youngest of eight German players currently in the Top 100 and, as one of the emerging stars in a leading tennis nation, has the benefit of a wealth of experienced compatriots to seek advice from when practising at home in Bavaria.

“We are always practising together so it is good to have them around and get advice from them. There are many experienced players like Florian Mayer and also sometimes Philipp Kohlschreiber there working with us. They are world-class players and have been in the business a long time, so it is good to have them around you,” said Marterer.

Marterer won his first two tour-level matches at the Australian Open last month, with a strong win over fellow German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe before taking out 2009 semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco in a thrilling five-set triumph.

The run came to an end at the hands of fellow breakout star Tennys Sandgren in the third round, but Marterer had plenty of reasons to feel confident that his week in Melbourne was the start of a successful career on the ATP World Tour.

“It was very special for me to get the wins in a Grand Slam,” reflected Marterer. “I think I found a good way of playing my game in these matches and how to win the points.

“I played a really strong match; especially in the fifth set [against Verdasco]. The conditions were really tough, on one of the hottest days of the two weeks, so in the end I was really, really happy to win that match. It was great to see that physically I am fit for five sets against such a top player.”

That confidence and knowledge, gained in Melbourne, looks likely to help Marterer as he continues his quest to end the year inside the world’s Top 50. Next stop: Sofia.

Viktor Troicki secured just his third win in nine matches since the 2017 Rolex Shanghai Masters to beat former Top 10 player Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3 at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old started strong with an early break of serve before closing out the opener to love with confidence. The second set saw dominant serving from both men, with none of the 12 games reaching deuce before Gulbis dominated the tie-break to force a decider.

Troicki continued his dominant serving in the third set, and after breaking the Latvian in the fourth game, served out the match to love five games later to end Gulbis’ challenge. Troicki did not face a single break point in the one-hour, 54-minute contest and will now face Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin for a place in the quarter-finals.

Istomin scored a fourth win of the season to beat Bulgarian wild card Adrian Andreev 6-3, 6-4. The Uzbek was broken on three occasions and let 5-1 and 2-0 leads in the first and second sets slip, but broke his opponent five times in the one-hour, 18-minute encounter to set up the second-round meeting with Troicki.

It was also a successful day for qualifiers at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open, who won the first three completed singles matches of the day.

Mirza Basic successfully handled the difficulty of facing a new opponent to beat lucky loser Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-1 after Sergiy Stakhovsky withdrew from the tournament due to illness. Martin Klizan booked a second round meeting against No.1 seed Stan Wawrinka after safely navigating a tough first set en route to a 7-5, 6-1 win over wild card Alexander Donski. Klizan’s compatriot Jozef Kovalik also had reason for celebration after upsetting Romania’s Radu Albot 6-3, 6-3.

In doubles action, Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya notched their second win of 2018 in 53 minutes with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Russian duo Evgeny Donskoy and Mikhail Youzhny. The second seeds will next meet Maximilian Marterer and Joao Sousa who stormed past the Bulgarian team of Radoslav Shandarov and Vasil Shandarov 6-1, 6-2 in 45 minutes.

Third seeds Nicholas Monroe and John-Patrick Smith came from a set down to beat Romania’s Marius Copil and Florin Mergea 4-6, 6-1, 10-6. Scott Lipsky and Divij Sharan also advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Dimitar Kuzmanov and Vasko Mladenov.

Tennis players are always at the center of the ATP World Tour’s world. But this week at the Ecuador Open in Quito, the country’s capital, the competitors paid a visit to the actual center of the Earth at the equator.

Gael Monfils, his doubles partner Dorian Descloix, No. 1 Chilean Nicolas Jarry and home favourite Roberto Quiroz — the No. 1 player from Ecuador — played mini tennis on the equator during a visit to the Mitad del Mundo on Monday, where government officials presented the quartet with sombreros de paja toquilla — Ecuadorian hats.

All of the players attempted to do something that cannot be done except on the equator: balancing an egg on a nail. Only Jarry was successful with his effort, but all of the stars had a blast trying. They also learned how cacao is turned into chocolate and performed ‘Limpia’, a spiritual ritual led by a Shaman that is meant to release bad energies.

They will hope that pay dividends this week in Quito, with the first ATP World Tour clay-court title of the season on the line.

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