BARCELONA, April 22, 2018
Six qualifiers clinched a spot in the singles main draw of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Sunday. The top seed of the qualifying Bjorn Fratangelo ended an 11-match-winning streak of Pablo Andújar of Spain. The 24-year-old US-American rallies from set down to seal a 0-6, 7-6, 6-1 victory.
Frantangelo struck five aces and broke his opponent five times to prevail after two hours and six minutes. He will face Russian lucky loser Alexey Vatutin in the first round of the ATP 500 clay-court event.
Ilya Ivashka fought past Austrian veteran Jürgen Melzer 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. The World No. 122 from Belarus won five points more than the 36-year-old leftie and finished the encounter in just under two hours of play. Ivashka will take on Frenchman Gilles Simon.
Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil, Slovakia’s Martin Klizan, #NextGenATP Frenchman Corentin Moutet and local favourite Ricardo Ojeda Lara complete the main draw. No qualifier will play a seeded player in the opening round.
Photo Gallery (by Brigitte Urban):
- Dustin Brown
- Dustin Brown
- Dustin Brown
- Pablo Andújar
- Federico Delbonis
- Ernesto Escobedo
- Bjorn Fratangelo (photo: Brigitte Urban)
- Ilya Ivashka
- Joao Sousa
- Martin Klzan
- Ricardo Ojeda Lara