David Ferrer of Spain return a shot to Matteo Viola of Italy during the Malaysian Open at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Wednesday.
KUALA LUMPUR: Top seed David Ferrer of Spain oozed confidence to cruise into the men’s singles quarter-finals while compatriot and third seed Nicolas Almagro was sent packing in the Malaysian Open tennis championship at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Wednesday.
Ferrer, the world No. 4, dictated terms to post a 6-2, 6-3 win over Matteo Viola of Italy in the second round.
Viola only had himself to blame as he was erratic and double-faulted 10 times to lose in 73 minutes.
Ferrer, who had a first-round bye, will play Joao Sousa of Portugal in tomorrow’s quarter-finals. Sousa registered a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over American wildcard Ryan Harrison.
Almagro, who also received a first-round bye, was out of sorts, losing 6-3, 6-3 to Italian Adrian Mannarino in 76 minutes.
Mannarino broke Almagro’s serve four times to reach his second ATP World Tour quarter-finals this season.
Mannarino, who defeated German Daniel Brands 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round on Monday, was delighted with his performance.
“It’s one of the best victories of my career. I was really consistent today. I’m going to try to continue like this,” said the Italian, who will face either fifth seed Julien Benneteau of France or Pablo Andujar of Spain in the last eight.
Crowd favourite Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus did not let his fans down, seeing off Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in the first round. The Cypriot, the finalist here in 2011, will take on world No. 10 and second seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on Thursday.
Baghdatis has never beaten Wawrinka in all their three meetings.
“For sure it will be difficult against him (Wawrinka). He’s having a great year, playing his best tennis. I need to find a way to beat him. I’m sure I’ll have my chances too,” said Baghdatis.
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