Ferrer in form

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:34

The Spaniard, seeded third this year, defeated Dutch wild card Jesse Huta Galung 6-2 7-5 and will now face countryman Oscar Hernandez, who beat Daniel Koellerer 6-3 6-2.

It was a largely comfortable day for the seeds, with fourth seed Rainer Schuettler beating Nicolas Devilder 6-4 7-6 (8/6), sixth seed Marc Gicquel seeing off Steve Darcis 6-2 6-3 and another Frenchman, seventh seed Jeremy Chardy, a 6-1 6-3 winner against Philipp Petzschner.

Eighth seed Mischa Zverev’s tournament did not last long, the German retiring from his clash with France’s Michael Llodra at 1-4 in the first set.

Benjamin Becker, Dick Norman and Kristof Vliegen are also through while Thiemo De Bakker and Bjorn Phau will resume their match on Tuesday at 1-1 in the decider after darkness prevented proceedings being completed on Monday night.

In the women’s event, defending champion Tamarine Tanasugarn, who surprisingly defeated Dinara Safina in last year’s final, lost only four games in beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-1 6-3.

Third seed Flavia Pennetta was another easy winner, seeing off Chan Yung-Jan 6-4 6-2, while Daniela Hantuchova, seeded six, defeated Roberta Vinci 7-6 (7/2) 6-4.

Francesca Schiavone, Kateryna Bondarenko, Olga Govortsova, Yaroslava Shvedova, Michaella Krajicek and Yanina Wickmayer also triumphed, along with Australian Open junior champion Ksenia Pervak, who beat Petra Cetkovska 7-5 7-6 (8/6).

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