VIENNA (AP) Tomas Berdych's chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals were dealt a blow Monday as Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia defeated the 10th-ranked Czech 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-5 in the first round of the Erste Bank Open.
Berdych held the eighth and final qualifying spot for the season-ending tournament coming into this event but could now be overtaken by David Goffin and Marin Cilic, who are both playing in Basel this week.
Berdych, who was seeded second, scored just five points on Basilashvili's serve in the opening set. He saved five break points before taking the second set in a tiebreaker, and came back from a break down twice against the 107th-ranked Georgian before losing his serve again at 6-5 in the final set.
Basilashvili next plays Karen Khachanov of Russia, who beat Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-4, 6-4.
Earlier, Ivo Karlovic hit 16 aces to beat last year's runner-up Steve Johnson 7-6 (5), 6-3.
The eighth-seeded Croat saved six break points as he held serve throughout and converted the only chance he got on the American's serve at 3-2 in the second set.
Karlovic next plays qualifier Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina, who defeated the 43rd-ranked Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 5-7, 6-0.
Also, John Isner held off all seven break points against his serve as he rallied to defeat Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4.
Andy Murray is the top-seeded player at the Austrian indoor event.