Karlovic ousts Youzhny in Halle

Russia's Mikhail Youzhny has crashed out of the ATP Halle after a 73-minute 6-3 6-4 loss to Croatia's Ivo Karlovia.

Last year's runner-up Mikhail Youzhny has been sent crashing out of the ATP Halle grasscourt tournament, undone 6-3 6-4 by the big serving Ivo Karlovia.

The giant Croat, ranked 33rd in the world, sent down 22 aces in the short space of time in a 73-minute first-round match with the Russian powerless to do anything about it.

Karlovic set up a second round tie against Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu who defeated Croatian qualifier Mate

Pavic 7-6 (7/2) 6-7 (11/13) 7-6 (7/5) in a match that lasted 2 hours 44 minutes.

There was an early exit also for another top grasscourt player in the form of Frenchman Richard Gasquet who fell 6-4 6-4 to Robin Haase of the Netherlands.

A former semi-finalist at Wimbledon, Gasquet has been suffering with a bad back in recent weeks and he re-injured his right shoulder in training for Halle.

"I am feeling the pain all the time and I can't get that out of my head," he said, adding that he would travel to Eastbourne on Friday to play in the tournament there in the week preceding Wimbledon.

Top seed and newly-crowned French Open champion Rafael Nadal will play his second round tie on Wednesday as will second seed Roger Federer.

Both had first round byes.

Late in the day, French showman Gael Monfils won his way through to the second round with a 7-1 7-5 win over Germany's Benjamin Becker.

Playing for the first time since losing 6-0 in the fifth set to Andy Murray in the French Open quarter-finals, Monfils will next play Japanese world number 12 Kei Nishikori, a first-round loser in Paris.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world