Defending champion and top seed David Ferrer is leading the
Spanish charge at the Heineken Open, easily getting through
his first match of the tournament with a victory over Czech
Lukas Rosol.
Ferrer, ranked number five in the world, took just over an
hour to beat Rosol 6-4 6-2. It was Ferrer's first match of
the tournament after he had a bye in the first round and he
will face Alejandro Falla of Colombia in the quarter-finals.
While Ferrer is the top gun, his two countrymen Nicolas
Almagro and Fernando Verdasco also possess plenty of
firepower and they also progressed with two-set victories
following first-round byes.
Second seed Almagro looked especially sharp in disposing of
Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-4 6-2, with third seed
Verdasco, a former world number seven who is playing in
Auckland for the first time, beating Carlos Berlocq of
Argentina 7-5 7-6 (3).
Left-hander Verdasco looked brilliant at times - his backhand
in particular is a weapon - but he struggled with his serve.
He battled for 61 minutes to put Berlocq away in the first
set and, while he forced the Argentine all around the court
in the second, Berlocq refused to give up and took it to a
tiebreak.
Verdasco eventually took out the match, one of the best in
the tournament, in two hours 13 minutes.
"He's a great fighter,'' Verdasco said of Berlocq. "He fought
for every ball no matter how tired. It was so difficult
today.''
Almagro will face eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of
Germany in the quarter-finals, with Verdasco facing another
Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, a man who happens to be his
doubles partner.
It is Ferrer, 29, who remains favourite. His fighting
qualities came to the fore against the lanky Rosol but it was
his extremely accurate first serve which put him in the box
seat.
Ferrer was successful with about 80 per cent of his first
serves in the first set, but Rosol was left kicking himself
when he was in a position to apply pressure. With the score
at 5-4, Rosol had an easy chance to go to 15-40 but dinked an
easy shot into the net. Ferrer quickly wrapped up the game
and took out the first set. The second set was more
straightforward, Ferrer twice breaking Rosol's serve.
"It was difficult because he's very powerful,'' said Ferrer.
"It's important for me to win the first match in two sets. I
didn't run a lot and use up much energy so I'm happy.
"I played consistently all the match.''
Ferrer brings plenty of form to Auckland, having beaten world
number one Novak Djokovic in London at the end of the year
before helping his country win the Davis Cup against
Argentina.
Sixth seed Thomaz Bellucci, of Brazil, lost an epic battle
against Olivier Rochus. Belgian Rochus won the second-round
match, which lasted three hours 12 minutes and included two
tie-breakers, 6-7 (6) 7-5 6-7 (5).
Bellucci, ranked 30 places higher than Rochus at 37th, was a
quarter-finalist in Auckland last year.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.