Bernard Tomic gets a third-set retirement from Ivo Karlovic on Tuesday in Bangkok. Tomic is joined in the second round by Lukas Rosol, who outlasted Lukasz Kubot in a third-set tiebreaker.
Bernard Tomic d. Ivo Karlovic 6-7(3), 6-4, 4-2, retired
Tomic advanced to the second round of the Thailand Open when Karlovic retired with a back injury on Tuesday. Karlovic had struck 25 aces along with five double-faults before he called it quits after one hour and 54 minutes of play. Tomic recorded 12 aces without double-faulting and he saved all three of the break points he faced.
Karlovic surged to a fast start by fighting off six break points in the first set and cruising through the tiebreaker seven points to three. Tomic, however, used one break in the second to serve it out at 5-4. With his serve struggling due to physical problems, Karlovic went down an early break in the decider. The 6’10” Croat finally pulled the plug in the middle of his service game at 2-4. Next up for Tomic is No. 4 seed and Metz champion Gilles Simon.
(8) Lukas Rosol d. Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2)
Rosol fired 16 aces and withstood 14 off the racket of Kubot to prevail in one hour and 51 minutes. The 46th-ranked Czech dominated on serve most of the way, including in the first set when he dropped only five points in five service games. Kubot reversed roles in the second, surrendering just seven points in five service games while earning one scalp of the Rosol delivery.
That set the stage for a tense third, in which Kubot saved one break point to force a tiebreaker. The Wimbledon quarterfinalist, though, was once again hopeless in the return game. Rosol never came close to getting broken and he rolled through the ‘breaker seven points to two. Bangkok’s No. 8 seed awaits either Evgeny Donskoy or Yen-Hsun Lu for a spot in the quarterfinals.
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