Kuala Lumpur - Ivo Karlovic pounded 18 aces to make a dominating start to his Malaysian Open campaign as he defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 on Wednesday and move himself to the cusp of an ATP record.
Karlovic, at 36 the oldest player in the Top 20 since 37-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1990, moved within 48
Should he keep on winning in Malaysia, he should surpass the mark this week.
The third-seeded Karlovic has a maximum three more matches in Kuala Lumpur as he reached the quarter-finals after a bye.
While Karlovic was advancing, there was an upset loss for French sixth seed Jeremy Chardy, a 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 victim of Benjamin Becker as the German reached his first quarter-final of the season.
It was only the 10th ATP-level win of
Australian Nick Kyrgios, whose mother is Malaysian and who is considered a native by local fans, reached the quarters for the first time in five months thanks to a defeat of Japan's Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 6-2.
"It is definitely a special tournament,
"This will be my second time here, so I'm already quite used to the conditions."
In the first round, last week's St Petersburg runner-up Joao Sousa of Portugal beat qualifier Michal Przysiezny 6-2, 6-2 in just over one hour and next takes on Bulgarian fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov.
German qualifier Mischa Zverev will play Spanish second seed Feliciano Lopez after defeating Rajeev Ram 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-3.