Bulgarian talent Ivan Ivanov is continuing his successful campaign at the hard-court tournament in Vale do Lobo, Portugal, which has a prize fund of $30,000. Bulgaria’s Davis Cup representative secured a place among the top eight in the competition after a spirited three-set victory.
The 18-year-old from Varna, seeded No. 7 in the main draw, had to overcome a deficit to claim victory against home representative Joao Domingues. Ivanov lost the first set 2:6, but showed character and turned the match around with 6:2 and 6:3 in the next two sets. The match lasted 1 hour and 57 minutes.
After an unconvincing start, the Bulgarian gradually found his game and leveled the score with a commanding performance in the second set. In the deciding set, Ivanov continued to dictate the pace, broke serve early on and won three consecutive games. Domingues was unable to get back into the match, and the Varna native closed it out at 6:3.
In the quarterfinals, Ivan Ivanov will face third seed Pavel Lagutin of Russia. The Russian is ranked 390th in the ATP world rankings, while the Bulgarian tennis player is No. 459.