Lucky loser Jarry stuns Alexander Zverev in Barcelona Open

By Rik Sharma

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Alexander Zverev crashed out of the Barcelona Open in the second round on Tuesday, continuing his troubled start to 2019.

The German, who joined the tournament on a late wildcard, was beaten 3-6 7-5 7-6(5) by lucky loser Nicolas Jarry.

German world number three Zverev came back from a double break down in the third set but blew a match point at 6-5.

It was the biggest win of the Chilean Jarry's career, while Zverev slumped to a fifth defeat in his last seven matches.

World number 81 Jarry will next face either Grigor Dimitrov or Fernando Verdasco in Thursday's third round.

"I was able to handle the good moments and bad moments. I was very good with my mental game," said Jarry.

It was a bad day for the Zverev brothers as Mischa Zverev was also eliminated, going out 6-3 6-1 to David Ferrer in the first round, while Kei Nishikori eased to a 7-5 6-2 win over Taylor Fritz to secure a place in the third round.

In other second round matches, third seed Dominic Thiem followed suit with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Diego Schwartzman, but 10th seed David Goffin was beaten 7-6(6) 6-3 by Jan-Lennard Struff. Stefanos Tsitsipas eased past Marton Fucsovics 6-3 6-4.

Top seed and world number two Rafael Nadal begins his campaign to win the Barcelona Open for a record 12th time on Wednesday against Leonardo Mayer.

(Editing by Hugh Lawson and Pritha Sarkar)