BARCELONA, 29 April 2004 — Defending champion and No. 2 seed Carlos Moya sailed through to the last 16 of the Barcelona Open with a 6-4, 6-2 win over German qualifier Daniel Elsner yesterday.
In-form French qualifier Olivier Patience knocked out Argentine ninth seed Juan Ignacio Chela, warming up after a slow start to claim a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Estoril Open champion. No. 15 seed Felix Mantilla lost 6-4, 7-6 to Spanish wild card Marc Lopez, and 17th-seeded Brazilian Flavio Saretta fell to Belgian Kristof Vliegen 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
Spanish 10th seed Feliciano Lopez survived his second tough match in two days to secure a third-round place with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 defeat of compatriot David Sanchez.
The 22-year-old Dubai finalist lost momentum when Sanchez broke his serve in the second set, then handed the set to his increasingly confident opponent with a string of mistakes.
Lopez regained concentration at the start of the final set and a frustrated Sanchez was unable to consolidate a brief lead.
Argentine No. 3 seed David Nalbandian, who had a first-round bye, cruised through to the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of experienced American Todd Martin.Fellow Argentine and 16th seed Mariano Zabaleta faced even less opposition for a third-round slot in the $1.17 million claycourt tournament, claiming a 6-0, 6-3 win over Spain’s Fernando Vicente.
Verkerk Into Last Eight While Spadea Is Ousted
In Munich, Germany, American Vincent Spadea became the fourth seeded player to crash out of the 375,750 euro ($444,450) BMW Open yesterday losing an epic battle 6-3, 5-7, 6-7 (4-7) to German qualifier Alexander Waske.
Thailand’s second seed Paradorn Srichaphan, fifth seed Andrei Pavel, American eighth seed James Blake and compatriot Spadea have all exited the competition before the latter stages.
Spadea, 29, was seeded fifth but Waske showed no fear in front of his home crowd to reach the first quarterfinal of his career.
The 29-year-old Waske lost the first set but rallied to edge the second 7-5 and win the decisive set on a tie-break.
Clay court specialist Martin Verkerk moved ominously into the quarterfinals with a straight sets victory over Boris Pashanski.
The Dutch number four seed was pushed hard by Serbia and Montenegro qualifier Pashanski, needing two tie-breakers to triumph 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4).
The 25-year-old will now take on another qualifier in the form of Switzerland’s Michel Kratchovil who defeated Armenia’s Sargis Sargsian 6-2, 6-4 in his second round match. After disposing of Asia’s top player Paradorn in the first round Belgian Olivier Rochus moved into the quarterfinals with an easy 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win over German teenager Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Qualifier Kohlschreiber, 19, lost his head after conceding the first set on a tie-break and his weak backhand was ruthlessly exposed by Rochus in the second set as the Belgian cruised to victory.
