Battle Of The Ages: Karlovic Overcomes Felix in Pune

Ivo Karlovic may be less than two months from his 40th birthday, but the Croatian is still going strong. Karlovic defeated #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-5 at the Tata Open Maharashtra in a meeting between the oldest and youngest players in the draw on Tuesday.

At 39 years and 10 months, Karlovic is 21 and a half years older than Auger-Aliassime, who celebrated his 18th birthday in August 2018. The World No. 100 landed 13 aces and won 80 per cent of service points to overcome the tournament debutant in 74 minutes. Karlovic, who now owns a 6-3 event record, will meet Evgeny Donskoy for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Three-time semi-finalist Benoit Paire notched his 13th win at the Tata Open Maharashtra after 87 minutes, beating lucky loser Thiago Monteiro 7-6(5), 6-3. The fifth seed will meet Jiri Vesely in the second round. Vesely beat qualifier Antoine Hoang of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Ilya Ivashka recovered from a set down to beat 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Hubert Hurkacz 6-7(9), 6-2, 6-3. The Belarusian will face defending champion Gilles Simon for a place in the last eight. Simone Bolelli also advanced, converting all three break points he created to beat Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-4. Bolelli will meet seventh seed Jaume Munar in the second round.

Bopanna/Sharan Fly The Flag
Home favourites Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan advanced to the quarter-finals in Pune after just 50 minutes, cruising past Radu Albot and Malek Jaziri 6-1, 6-2. The top seeds saved all four break points they faced and dropped just four points behind their first serves (27/31).

Denys Molchanov and Igor Zelenay also managed to move into the last eight after less than an hour on court, beating Spaniards Pablo Andujar and Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 6-4 in 51 minutes. The Ukranian-Slovakian tandem will once again meet Spanish opposition in the next round, with fourth seeds Gerard Granollers and Marcel Granollers standing in the way of a place in the semi-finals.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2ArWK9J