Spaniards reign on day three
Ferrer, Almagro and Verdasco safely through
January 11, 2012
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- Fernando Verdasco www.photosport.co.nz
David Ferrer of Spain made a successful return to singles play in the Heineken Open today with a quick win over Czech Lukas Rosol. The top seed won in an hour and never faced a break point in the match, winning 6-4 6-2.
Ferrer said it was a difficult win due to the Czech's powerful game, and he expects a tough match against Alejandro Falla. "He plays very flat and there will be good rallies in the match," he said.
Meanwhile, his compatriot Nicolas Almagro also won in straight sets over Santiago Giraldo of Colombia by the identical scoreline, 6-4 6-2. Almagro, who made the semifinals here last year, will now face German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals.
Two seeds were sent home today. Number four seed Juan Ignacio Chela lost to qualifier Benoit Paire of France in three sets. The Frenchman will now face another upset winner - Olivier Rochus who battled past #6 seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil. The two battled for 3 hours and 12 minutes as the Belgian pulled it out 7-6 (6) 5-7 7-6 (5).
The night session crowd was treated to a thriller as third seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain faced Carlos Berlocq of Argentina. Verdasco went down an early break but recovered to take the first set 7-5, and then won a tight second set in a tiebreaker after being down 0-40 at 5-5. The Spaniard said it was quite a battle for his first singles match of the year.
"It was not easy at all," he said. " It was a good physical and mental match and a match with a lot of ups and downs."
Verdasco had a lot of crowd support and he said he really felt their support. "I really felt so comfortable - they were supporting me a lot."
Frenchman Adrian Mannarino's great run ended as Guillermo Garcia-Lopez defeated him in straight sets. Verdasco and Garcia-Lopez will face off in the quarterfinals.
