Pavlasek Battles Past Harrison At Roland Garros

Adam Pavlasek needed two hours and 24 minutes to upset Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(5) in the first round of qualifying at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old Czech, who reached a career-high No. 72 in the ATP Rankings on 9 January 2017, fired 42 winners to overcome the ninth-seeded American in a final-set tie-break. Pavlasek entered Roland Garros qualifying after achieving his best result of the year on the ATP Challenger Tour earlier this month.

Two weeks ago, the 6’1″ right-hander reached the Roma Garden Open semi-finals before falling to Gian Marco Moroni. Pavlasek will meet Geoffrey Blancaneaux for a spot in the final round of qualifying. The Frenchman beat Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3.

Top seed Tennys Sandgren defeated Yosuke Watanuki 6-2, 6-4 to reach the second qualifying round. The ASB Classic champion converted four of 10 break points and will face Mats Moraing of Germany for a place in the final qualifying round. Moraing beat Andrej Martin 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Adrian Menendez-Maceiras defeated 18th seed Alex Bolt 6-2, 6-2. The Spaniard will meet Daniel Elahi Galan, who edged Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 54 minutes.

Enzo Couacaud recovered from a set down to stun third seed Paolo Lorenzi 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. The 24-year-old Frenchman will next face Arthur De Greef, who beat Ilya Marchenko 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Go Soeda cruised past 27th seed Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 6-1, 6-2. The Tokyo resident fired 19 winners to reach the second qualifying round after 64 minutes.