Adrian Andreev qualified for the main draw of the hard-court Challenger 50 tournament in Hersonissos, Greece, which offers €56,700 in prize money.
The 25-year-old Andreev defeated the third-seeded player in qualifying, Nikita Mashtakov of Ukraine, 7:6(7), 4:6, 7:6(2) after three hours and 58 minutes of play.
The Bulgarian squandered a break advantage three times in the first set, which was decided in a tiebreak. Andreev saved a set point at 6:7 and won the set 9:7 with a run of three consecutive points. In the second set, the Bulgarian took a 3:1 lead but won only one of the next six games, and after 4:6 the score was level.
Andreev fell 2:4 behind in the deciding third set but managed to level at 4:4. At 5:4, he missed a match point on the Ukrainian's serve. A second tiebreak followed, which the Bulgarian won convincingly 7:2 on points.
In the opening round of qualifying, Andreev defeated Japan's Ryotaro Taguchi 7:5, 6:3. He earned three points for the world rankings, in which he is ranked 584th this week.
Bulgaria's Davis Cup player Alexander Vasilev lost to Benjamin Pietri of France 0:6, 1:6 in the second round of qualifying after 76 minutes of play. Yesterday, Vasilev defeated Arvid Nordqvist of Sweden 3:6, 6:1, 6:1 in one hour and 48 minutes.
Despite the defeat, Vasilev earned one ranking point, and he is ranked 604th this week.
In the doubles tournament, Adrian Andreev and Vladislav Orlov of Ukraine will face Alex Ganchev of Bulgaria and Sacha Maes of Luxembourg in the opening round.