Ivan Ljubicic goes for a quarter-final place when he takes on qualifier Joao Souza in Kitzbuhel later today.
World number 112 Souza battled his way through qualifying at the weekend, saving match points along the way. He had to hit back from a set down in each of his first two matches but his fighting spirit was rewarded by a generous draw against fellow qualifier Jerzy Janowicz.
It proved to be another grueling dogfight for the Brazilian against the giant Pole but he eventually scraped through 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 to earn his moment in the spotlight against third seed Ljubicic.
Ljubicic had high hopes going into his home event of Umag last week but he got landed with a shocking draw, pitted against defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in his first match. Having just picked up a title in Stuttgart, Ferrero was in fine form and despite an early onslaught, Ljubicic could not quite see him off.
He will be far happier with the look of this week’s draw which leaves him with a very realistic shot at making the semi-finals.
