ALL three ATP tour events continued overnight, with the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg seeing a trio of Serbians survive the first round, while at Newport, Americans ruled the roost on home turf and in Sweden another hometown hope fell at the first stage.

At Hamburg, it was the Serbian show as fifth and sixth seeds Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic both claimed wins and were joined in the second round by compatriot Laslo Djere who overcame seventh seed home hopeful Jan-Lennard Struff. While both Lajovic and Djere escaped the limelight with two set wins over Lucas Pouille and Struff respectively, Krajinovic was forced to work hard for a win over another German in Daniel Altmeier. The wildcard came in off the back of a Challenger Tour title last week. Despite winning the first set and leading 3-1 in the second, Krajinovic lost the second set tiebreaker before rallying in the third to finish with a 6-3 5-7(3) 6-2 result.

Three qualifiers in Alex Molcan, Carlos Taberner and Juan Pablo Varillas continued their winning form with the former two requiring over two hours each in three sets while Varillas registered the quickest win of the day 6-0 6-4. in just 72 minutes. Elsewhere, German Dominik Koepfer was the only hometown hopeful to claim a win on the day as Federico Delbonis rounded out the Round of 16 competitors.

At the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, USA, a trio of Americans led the charge on home soil with fifth seed Tennys Sandgren downing Portugal’s Joao Sousa as Maxime Cressy followed suit in two with a 6-1 6-2 win over Italian Pablo Lorenzi, while wildcard Jack Sock rounded out the group with a 3-6 6-4 6-3 win over Australian qualifier Alex Bolt.

42-year-old Ivo Karlovic was the big winner of the day, downing a Spaniard almost 20 years his junior in 24-year-old Bernarbe Zapata Miralles in three sets, 6-7(5) 6-1 6-4. A finalist here in 2015 and champion in 2016, Karlovic fired off 24 aces on his way to the second round.

“It was really difficult after losing that tie-break, but after that I just continued. I was a little bit more aggressive and it paid off at the end,” Karlovic said. “It’s always nice to be here in Newport, especially this week as there is no more ‘bubble’ and everything is open again. That is really, really nice.”

The Croatian veteran will take on Chinese Taipei’s Jason Jung next round, who overcame Canadian qualifier Brayden Schnur, with German Peter Gojowczyk and Austrian Sebastian Ofner completing the Round of 32.

In Sweden, wildcard hometown hopeful Mikael Ymer was unfortunate to draw eighth seed Fin Emil Ruusuvuori, claiming the first set with ease before struggling to maintain control for the remainder of the 1-6 64 6-4 clash. Ruusuvuori, to his credit, rallied from five games down to save six of the seven break points he faced in the second set, winning 75 per cent of points off his first serve overall.

“It was a very difficult start for me. I was very slow getting into the conditions, and it was much slower than I thought,” Ruusuvuori said. “But slowly I got into it, and I just started playing smarter. Point by point, I felt like I was a little bit better. It was a tough fight in the end, and this time it came home so it was a good match in the end.”

Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen prevailed with an upset victory over Italian sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-2 3-6 6-4, while seventh seed Czech Jiri Vesely overcame Italian Salvatore Caruso in straight sets, 6-3 6-2. A couple of Spaniards in Roberto Carballes Baena and Pedro Martinez also claimed wins as Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech owned the quickest of the day with a 6-1 6-1 sweep of Pedro Sousa in just 58 minutes. Just one of three Argentinians survived the day as Facundo Bagnis fell to Carballes Baena, joined by qualifier Francisco Cerundolo on the sidelines after his loss to compatriot Federico Coria. Elsewhere, Norbert Gombos and teen Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune both reigned supreme in the first round.

 HAMBURG EUROPEAN OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[5] Dusan Lajovic (SRB) defeated Lucas Pouille (FRA) 6-4 6-4
[6] Filip Krajinovic (SRB) defeated [WC] Daniel Altmeier (GER) 6-3 6-7 6-1
Laslo Djere (SRB) defeated [7] Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-4 7-5
Federico Delbonis (ARG) defeated [Q] Zhang Zhizhen (CHN) 6-1 5-7 6-4
Dominik Koepfer (GER) defeated [Q] Maximilian Marterer (GER) 7-6 2-6 7-6
[Q] Alex Molcan (SVK) defeated Gianluca Mager (ITA) 4-6 6-4 7-6
[Q] Carlos Taberner (ESP) defeated Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-4 3-6 6-3
[Q] Juan Pablo Varillas (PER) defeated [LL] Sumit Nagal (IND) 6-0 6-4

HALL OF FAME OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[5] Tennys Sandgren (USA) defeated Joao Sousa (POR) 6-4 7-6
Maxime Cressy (USA) defeated Pablo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-1 6-2
Peter Gojowczyk (GER) defeated [Q] Mitchell Krueger (USA) 6-2 6-2
Jason Jung (TPE) defeated [Q] Brayden Schnur (CAN) 7-5 6-7 7-6
[WC] Ivo Karlovic (CRO) defeated Bernarbe Zapata Miralles (ESP) 6-7 6-1 6-4
[Q] Sebastian Ofner (AUT) defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 6-4 6-4
[WC] Jack Sock (USA) defeated [Q] Alex Bolt (AUS) 3-6 6-4 6-3

NORDEA OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[Q] Henri Laaksonen (SUI) defeated [6] Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 6-2 3-6 6-4
[7] Jiri Vesely (CZE) defeated Salvatore Caruso (ITA) 6-3 6-2
[8] Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) defeated [WC] Mikael Ymer (SWE) 1-6 6-4 6-3
Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) defeated Facundo Bagnis (ARG) 6-2 6-4
Federico Coria (ARG) defeated [Q] Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) 6-4 6-4
Norbert Gombos (SVK) defeated Pablo Cuevas (URU) 1-6 7-6 6-2
Pedro Martinez (ESP) defeated [Q] Dennis Novak (AUT) 7-5 6-1
[Q] Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) defeated Pedro Sousa (POR) 6-1 6-1
[WC] Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune (DEN) defeated Radu Albot (MDA) 4-6 6-3 6-0

Picture credit: Nordea Open