Rio De Janeiro, Feb 17 (.) Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic reached the Rio Open last 16 with
a 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory over seventh seed Daniel Altmaier of Germany.
Lajovic, who earned a place in the main draw as a lucky loser, won 79 percent of points on his first serve and took 12 of 14 points at the net to prevail in two hours and two minutes on the outdoor clay of the Jockey Club Brasileiro on Monday, according to Xinhua news.
World No. 54 Altmaier hit eight aces but made 38 unforced errors and won just 39 percent of points on his second serve.
Lajovic, who is ranked 129th, will meet either Tomas Barrios Vera of Chile or Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the next round of the ATP 500 event.
In other first-round matches on Monday, Czech Vit Kopriva overcame local favorite Gustavo Heide 6-2, 7-6 (5), Alejandro Tabilo of Chile beat American Emilio Nava 6-3, 6-3 and Argentine Thiago Tirante defeated Chile’s Cristian Garin 7-5, 6-3.
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