BARCELONA: Second-seeded David Ferrer was ousted from the Barcelona Open by a Russian opponent for the second straight year and defending champion Rafael Nadal laboured to victory on Wednesday.
Ferrer was unable to find his rhythm in losing 6-4, 6-2 to Teymuraz Gabashvili in his opening match while Nadal struggled past fellow Spanish player Albert Ramos 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
Ramos, 26 and who has never got past the second round of a Grand Slam tournament in seven attempts, had disposed of experienced Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-4 in their first-round clash on Tuesday.
But Nadal eventually overcame his 103rd-ranked opponent to reach the third round, rebounding from a surprise loss to Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals, and next faces Croatian Ivan Dodig who hammered Spanish 13th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-4.
Four-time finalist Ferrer will not be facing Nadal in the final for a fifth time after the 55th-ranked Gabashvili dominated him on his favoured clay to reach the last 16.
Last season Ferrer lost at the same stage at the Club de Tenis, going out to Dmitry Tursunov after losing a quartet of finals to Nadal over the years in the Catalan capital.
Third seed Fabio Fognini from Italy also bowed out with a whimper, trailing 6-0, 4-0 to Colombian Santiago Giraldo when he retired from the second round match.
Giraldo next faces young Austrian Dominic Thiem who took out 14th seed Marcel Granollers 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday.
Thiem’s compatriot Jurgen Melzer also advanced to the third round on Wednesday and a tie against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber after he saw off the challenge of Polish seventh seed Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 7-6 (7-1).
Eighth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine was ousted by Spain’s Albert Montanes 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Montanes earned a third-round clash with ninth seed Ernests Gulbis.
Austrian Gulbis won his second-round contest over Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) on Tuesday.
The fortunes of sixth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro were better as he beat Slovak Martin Klizan 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).
On Tuesday, Japan’s Kei Nishikori won his first clay match of the season returning from a three week absence due to a groin injury with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Roberto Bautista Agut to set up a third-round clash against Andrey Golubev after the Kazakh won when French 16th seed Benoit Paire quit late in their match trailing 6-4, 5-1.
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