Sixth-seeded Serbian Filip Krajinovic battled hard on Tuesday to book his place in the Hamburg European Open second round with a 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-1 victory over German wild card Daniel Altmaier, who captured his first ATP Challenger Tour title last week in Braunschweig (d. Laaksonen). Krajinovic let slip a 3-1 advantage in the second set, but won the first five games of a one-sided decider and now plays Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Another Serbian, Laslo Djere, saved seven of eight break points to upset seventh-seeded German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 50 minutes to set up a clash against Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. Struff, who beat World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the NOVENTI OPEN first round in Halle, drops to an 11-8 record on clay this year that includes a BMW Open runner-up finish (l. to Basilashvili).
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Qualifier Carlos Taberner recorded just his third tour-level match win by winning 80 per cent of his first-service points in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in two hours and 10 minutes. The World No. 114 will next challenge second seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday.
Elsewhere, Belgrade Open runner-up Alex Molcan fought past Gianluca Mager of Italy 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in two hours and 19 minutes. The Slovakian qualifier awaits the winner between fifth-seeded Serbian Dusan Lajovic or Lucas Pouille of France.
