Ferrer Races Past Lacko; Tipsarevic Passes Querrey Test

Written by: Staff on 29th May 2012

Ferrer Races Past Lacko; Tipsarevic Passes Querrey Test |

Paris, France

by ATP Staff

Original Link: (http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/05/22/Roland-Garros-Tuesday-Ferrer-Tipsarevic-In-Action.aspx)

Sixth seed David Ferrer reached the Roland Garros second round for the 10th straight year Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Lukas Lacko of the Slovak Republic.

Ferrer, who has advanced to the quarter-finals on two occasions in 2005 (l. to Nadal) and 2008 (l. to Monfils), converted six of 12 break point opportunities. He committed 29 unforced errors and won 14 of his 16 approaches to the net. He is now four match wins shy of 450 victories (446-239).

The 30-year-old Spaniard has won two clay-court titles this year at the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires (d. Almagro) and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco (d. Verdasco) this year. He has an ATP World Tour second-best record of 22-4 on clay. His compatriot Nicolas Almagro is 24-6 overall on clay.

Eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic survived a test against World No. 71 Sam Querrey early in the day on Court 1. The 27-year-old Serbian recovered from losing the first set to win 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-3, hitting 13 aces and 38 winners. It was the pair’s first clay-court meeting (Querrey leads 3-1 on hard courts). Tipsarevic advanced to the Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals (l. to Federer) earlier this month.

“[The] first set was not really fun for me on the court,” admitted Tipsarevic. “He was playing out of his mind, hitting winners from everywhere. All credit to him. Everything was going in. I’m happy that I managed to stay positive, stay quiet, not really talking too much when somebody is killing me on the court like he did in the first set. The match somehow turned around. When I made the break [in the second set], I felt I was in control all throughout the rest of the match.”

Alexandr Dolgopolov was beaten in the first round, in a match carried over from Monday night when the score was two sets all. Despite hitting 63 winners, the No. 16 seed lost to fellow Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3.

France’s Richard Gasquet, the No. 17 seed and 2002 junior champion, pleased home supporters by beating Estonian qualifier and World No. 103 Jurgen Zopp 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4). It was his 20th match win of the season (20-11 overall), highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Estoril Open (l. to del Potro) earlier this month.

“No, I didn’t know him at all,” said Gasquet of Zopp. “He’s a strong hitter, he was serving well. [The] surface was fast with the sun and I think I played well. It was not easy. I could have lost one set, either the second one or the third one. The first match on the Central Court, it’s always like this. It’s always difficult. You have to know how to play. He was playing well. I’d say it’s a good match for me.”

Germany’s Florian Mayer, the No. 31 seed, won the first match of day after he hit seven aces and 31 winners to beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

Topics: David Ferrer, Janko Tipsarevic, Roland Garros