ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia beat Slovakia’s Karol Beck 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Zagreb Indoors tournament.
Ljubicic, the 2006 champion and a finalist in 2007 and 2008, made the decisive break in the eighth game of the third set. He didn’t drop another point after that.
“It was a tough one, but it is important that I won and not how I did it,” said Ljubicic, who added it was his first match in three months.
Germany’s Matthias Bachinger defeated Izak Van Der Merwe of South Africa, 6-3, 6-3, and Lukas Lacko of Slovakia beat Italy’s Potito Starace 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 6-3.
