UMAG, Croatia (AP)—Fifth-seeded Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic needed a late rally to beat 100th-ranked Diego Sebastian Schwartzman 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2) in the first round of the Croatia Open on Tuesday.
Schwartzman was serving at 4-3 in the third set and the Argentine even had game point to increase his lead. However, Rosol broke back to level and then comfortably won the tiebreaker.
Spaniard Albert Montanes, who has twice reached the quarterfinals in Umag, cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over teenager Alexander Zverev. The 17-year-old German rose to a career-high 161 on Monday after the reaching semifinals in Hamburg last week.
Another Argentine, eighth-seeded Carlos Berlocq beat Slovakia's Andrej Martin 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Though there were no service breaks in the opening set, Berlocq took a commanding 4-1 lead in the second set on his way to a place in the second round.
Sixth-seeded Andreas Seppi, a three-time semifinalist at Umag, also advanced after beating fellow Italian Marco Cecchinato 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-1.