MONTERREY, October 4, 2018

Ivo Karlovic headlined Wednesday’s second round action at the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey. The No. 5 seed of the $150,000 ATP Challenger event rallied past World No. 672 and local wild card entry Lucas Gomez 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).

Karlovic fired 35 aces, winning 84 per cent of his first service points to prevail after one hour and 57 minutes. The 39-year-old from Croatia will next take on Bjorn Fratangelo, who beat Hungarian qualifier Zsombor Piros 6-1, 6-2 in only 47 minutes.

Gerald Melzer fought past Croatian young gun Nino Serdarusic 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3. The No. 7 seed from Austria won 52 per cent of the total points played to secure victory in two hours and five minutes. Up next for Melzer will be Santiago Giraldo from Colombia, who defeated Gonzalo Escobar of Ecuador 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. The encounter lasted one hour and 50 minutes.