Tomic toppled, Karlovic advances at Newport

NEWPORT, United States: Australian John-Patrick Smith won his first ATP main draw victory Monday, upsetting third-seeded countryman Bernard Tomic 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the Hall of Fame Championships.

Smith, ranked 156th, needed only 70 minutes to dispatch Tomic, taking 15 of 23 points off Tomic´s second serve and surrendering only one service break to the world number 25.

Smith had been 0-5 in ATP matches after first-round losses this year to South African Kevin Anderson at Delray Beach and Frenchman Kenny De Schepper in five sets at Wimbledon.

Next up for Smith will be 166th-ranked American Jared Donaldson, who beat 125-rated compatriot Austin Krajicek 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-2 in another opener on the grass courts outside the tennis legends honor hall where induction ceremonies will be staged Saturday.

Croatian second seed Ivo Karlovic blasted 11 aces and never faced a break point in battling past Ukraine´s Illya Marchenko 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (6/8), 6-4. Karlovic took the only break of the match to advance after two hours and 23 minutes.

Japan´s Tatsuma Ito outlasted US wildcard Noah Rubin 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 6-4 to book a second-round date with US seventh seed Steve Johnson, who downed Germany´s Michael Berrer 6-7 (6/8), 6-1, 6-2.

Also moving on was Colombia´s Alejandro Falla, who ousted Spain´s Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-1, 7-5. (AFP)