_
_
_
_
_

Ferrer, Almagro, Robredo lead Armada

Carla Suárez fires way into round three of women’s draw

Tommy Robredo won a five-setter to reach round three on Wednesday.
Tommy Robredo won a five-setter to reach round three on Wednesday.MIGUEL MEDINA (AFP)

A good day for the Armada at Roland Garros on Wednesday started off at the expense of one of its voluminous entourage as David Ferrer swept past Davis Cup teammate Albert Montañés 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 in a little over an hour and a half on the slightly unfamiliar surroundings — at least for fourth seed Ferrer — of Court 2.

Ferrer goes on to play another compatriot, Feliciano López, in a Spaniard-heavy quarter of the draw that also features Nicolás Almagro, the 11th seed, who made short work of France's Édouard Roger-Vasselin in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory. Whoever wins out of Ferrer and López will face a barrage of thunderous serves in the fourth round against either Milos Raonic or Kevin Anderson. Guillermo García-Lopez was involved in a five-setter but was edged by Viktor Troicki. García-Lopez and Albert Ramos were also on court in the doubles, but lost to Germany's Andre Begemann and Martin Emmrich.

Almagro will take on Italian 20th seed Andreas Seppi in round three and may face veteran Tommy Robredo in the fourth. Four times a quarterfinalist in Paris, the veteran clay court schemer recovered from two sets down to get past Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands, eventually carving out a 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win. Standing in Robredo's path to a fifth last eight appearance is resurgent local favorite Gaël Monfils, who despite a current ranking of 81 after an injury-plagued 2012 is turning on the style that previously made him a top 10 player at Roland Garros.

Monfils followed up a spectacular five-set win over world number six Tomas Berdych in round one with a hard-fought four set defeat of Latvian Ernests Gulbis, a tricky customer who has a few higher-ranked scalps to his name this season and has also made a habit of nicking a set off Rafael Nadal this year.

The only Spaniards left in the top half of the draw, Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, play on Thursday.

Meanwhile, second seeds Marcel Granollers and Marc López eased into the second round of the doubles while Carla Suárez Navarro got the better of US up-and-comer Shelby Rogers 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Suárez, the world number 20, awaits the winner of the match between Monica Puig and another member of the new wave of US female tennis, Madison Keys.

Recomendaciones EL PAÍS
Recomendaciones EL PAÍS
_
_