Ofner advances as Basilashvili pulls out at Generali Open

AP
Published 11:09 a.m. ET July 31, 2017 | Updated 1:35 p.m. ET July 31, 2017

KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) — Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner advanced to the second round of the Generali Open after 2016 finalist Nikoloz Basilashvili pulled out in the second set of their match on Monday.

The Georgian lost the first set 7-5 and trailed 3-0 in the second. The reason for his withdrawal wasn’t immediately clear.

Last year Basilashvili became the first male player from Georgia to reach a tour final, which he lost to Paolo Lorenzi of Italy.

Appearing in his second career tour-level event after reaching the third round at Wimbledon, Ofner will play top-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay in the second round.

Earlier, Dusan Lajovic reached the second round by beating German qualifier Maximilian Marterer 7-5, 7-6 (4). The 71st-ranked Serb, who reached the semifinals last year, lost serve once in the opening set but held off seven more break points at the final clay-court event of the season.

The 22-year-old Marterer is 0-8 for the season, and 0-12 overall on the tour.

Joao Sousa of Portugal rallied to beat Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-3 and set up a second-round match against defending champion Lorenzi.

Also, Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, and Miljan Zekic of Serbia beat Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6).