Karlovic beats Robredo in Barca Open

The Croatian, both the oldest and tallest player at the clay court tournament at 39 years old and 211 centimetres, used his cannonball serve to beat the former champion at the club he has trained at since he was 14. 

Pablo Cuevas, Rogerio Dutra Silva, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Marcel Granollers, Malek Jaziri, Leonardo Mayer and Stefanos Tsitsipas all progressed in straight sets. Dusan Lajovic beat Pedro Martinez 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3, while Benoit Paire squeezed past Nicolas Jarry 7-6(4) 6-7(3) 6-4.

Tournament favourite Rafael Nadal will be looking to triumph for the 11th time at the event on the court named in his honour. Fresh from winning at Monte Carlo, Nadal is looking to take the Barcelona Open title for the third year running. In the men’s doubles category, India’s Rohan Bopanna and E Roger Vasselin defeated H Kontinen and J Peers in straight sets. They won 7-6, 6-3.