Carlos Berlocq pulled off the battle of nerves

Carlos Berlocq rallied from a set down to snatch a thrilling encounter over 5th-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca on Monday.

The Argentine was edged out in the opening set (4-6), but looked firm in the second one, saving s couple of match points in the tie-breaker to eventually level the outing up.

In the decider, 65^th-ranked Berlocq broke his higher-ranked opponent twice to take hold of the match 4-6 7-6 6-4 in a grueling battle that lasted for 3 hours and 6 minutes.

Up next, Berlocq is slated to cross the swords with the winner of the other first-round match between Spain’s Nicolas Almagro and Taro Daniel of Japan.

Casablanca Open – 1^st Round Results

(7) M Kukushkin d. A Ramos-Vinolas (6-1 2-6 6-3)

C Berlocq d. (5) PC Busta (4-6 7-6 6-4)

D Brown d. A Kuznetsov (6-2 6-4)