Karlovic ousted at Zagreb indoors

ZAGREB, Croatia, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Ivo Karlovic, playing in his hometown, was eliminated in first-round play Tuesday at the PBZ Zagreb indoor tennis tournament in Croatia.

Karlovic looked good in the first set but Sergiy Stakhovsky rallied for the 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win.

Croatia's other favorite son in the tournament -- top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic -- was pushed but emerged with a straight-set victory in his match Tuesday. He beat Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).

Other than Karlovic's result, Croatia had a good day in the tournament Tuesday with wild card entrants Roko Karanusic and Lovro Zovko also winning. Karanusic beat Blaz Kavcic 6-7 (9-11), 6-4, 6-4 while Zovko stopped Marc Gicquel 6-3, 7-5.

Also in first-round play: No. 3-seeded Gilles Simon advanced, topping Pavol Cervenak 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 but seventh-seeded Andreas Seppi fell 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to Rik De Voest. Other wins were recorded by Teimuraz Gabashvili, Robin Haase and Viktor Troicki.