Goffin Saves 1 MP In Barcelona Scare
Goffin Saves 1 MP In Barcelona Scare
Carballes Baena sets second-round clash with Nadal
David Goffin recovered from a set and a double break down, saving one match point at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to beat Marcel Granollers 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 on Tuesday.
The Belgian had looked down and out at 4-6, 1-5 against the Barcelona-born star, but fought back, saving a match point with aggressive baseline play before coming to the net and extracting an error from his opponent. Goffin improves to 10-5 this season and now owns a 2-1 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with the Spaniard. Granollers had won their only previous encounter on the red dirt in Monte-Carlo two years ago.
Goffin advances to the third round for the second consecutive year, where he will meet either Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer or 16th seed Karen Khachanov.
Ecuador Open champion Roberto Carballes Baena set up a second-round meeting with 10-time champion Rafael Nadal, beating Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-2, 6-4. The 25-year-old needed one hour and 35 minutes to advance, breaking the Austrian five times en route to victory.
Martin Klizan set up a second-round encounter with sixth seed Novak Djokovic after a three-set win over Federico Delbonis. The 2015 semi-finalist (l. to Nishikori) beat the Argentine 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4 in just under three hours to level their FedEx ATP Head2Head series at 2-2.
Guido Pella also progressed to the second round, hitting nine aces and winning 80 per cent of his first-service points to move past Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk 6-4, 6-4.
In doubles, top seeds Lukas Kubot and Marcelo Melo took just 51 minutes to book their place in the quarter-finals. The Polish-Brazilian duo beat Khachanov and Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-3, 6-0. Kubot and Melo dropped just six points behind their serves and didn’t face a single break point throughout the match.
Did You Know?
Roberto Carballes Baena won six matches in seven days to win the Ecuador Open in February. The Spaniard beat a trio of seeded players en route to the title, rallying from a set down in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals before defeating countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas in three sets in the championship match.