David Goffin forced to pull out all the stops in Barcelona

Shahida Jacobs

David Goffin avoided an early exit from the Barcelona Open as he saved a match point before beating Marcel Granollers.

The fourth seed found himself 5-1 down in the second set, but adopted an aggressive approach and it paid off as he turned his fortunes around to claim a 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 win over the wildcard from Spain.

The Belgian will meet either Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer or 16th seed Karen Khachanov in the second round.

Eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut overcame 39-year-old big-server Ivo Karlovic 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 56 minutes while the 12th ranked Feliciano Lopez beat Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Spaniard Lopez could face Novak Djokovic, who will take on Martin Klizan in his opener, in the third round.

“In the second set I started to notice that I was a bit short,” Lopez said of his win over veteran Karlovic.

“I had a bit of a stumble, but then I fought all the points until the end and I was able to break the service and win the game. It was very complicated.”

His compatriot Jaume Munar also advanced as he beat Joao Sousa 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 while Roberto Carballes Baena booked a second-round clash with Rafael Nadal with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Andreas Haider-Maurer.

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