PRAGUE, August 18, 2020
Aslan Karatsev headlined Tuesday’s second round action by knocking out World No. 65 Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic, the second seed of the € 137,560 I.CLTK Prague Open 2020 by Moneta. The 26-year-old from Russia converted three of his five break point chances to secure a 6-3, 6-4 victory in one hour and 28 minutes.
Karatsev, currently ranked World No. 253, will next take on No. 14 seed Ernests Gulbis from Latvia, who fought past 18-year-old local wild card entry Andrew Paulson 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 after two hours and 41 minutes.
Another wild card booked his spot in the third round, as Michael Vrbensky beat Steven Diez of Canada 7-5, 6-3. The 20-year-old from the Czech Republic won 56 per cent of the total points played to advance after one hour and 37 minutes. Up next for Vrbensky will be the tournament’s No. 4 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
In the remaining matches on Wednesday, Swiss top seed Stan Wawrinka will face in-form German Oscar Otte. Czech teenager Jiri Lehecka will challenge No. 6 seed Sumit Nagal of India, Zdenek Kolar from the Czech Republic will take on third favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France and Elias Ymer from Sweden will meet local favourite Tomas Machac, who clinched his maiden title on the ATP Challenger Tour at the Koblenz Open in Germany earlier this year.
