Tennis: Third seed Dolgopolov advances at Delray Beach
Dolgopolov beat Teymuraz Gabashvili to advance to the second round of the ATP Delray Beach Open.
DELRAY BEACH (AFP) - Ukraine s third-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov advanced to the second round of the ATP Delray Beach Open on Monday by defeating Russia s Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
Dolgopolov fired nine aces and dropped his serve only once in the 93-minute victory, which sends him into the round of 16 against an American, either Tim Smyczek or Stefan Kozlov.
World number 24 Dolgopolov is bidding to win his third title, having captured the 2012 Washington Open and the 2011 Croatian Open.
The 26-year-old right-hander last reached a final one year ago this week, losing to Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal in Rio de Janeiro.
Also reaching the second round was US wildcard Denis Kudla, who eliminated Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-4. Kudla will next face either US qualifier Eric Quigley or French fifth seed Adrian Mannarino.
In a later match, Croatian fourth seed Ivo Karlovic meets Germany s Dustin Brown.
The top seed is South African Kevin Anderson, who lost to fifth-ranked Kei Nishikori in Sunday s Memphis final.
Anderson has lost his last six ATP finals, his most recent crown coming at Delray Beach, where he now resides, in 2012.
