There was a major upset on Thursday at the Ecuador Open Quito as fourth seed Fernando Verdasco lost his opening match. Two other seeded Spaniards were forced to fight into the quarterfinals, while the defending champion cruised through his second round match.
Defending Champ Rolls
Defending champion Victor Estrella Burgos went head-to-head with qualifier Andrej Martin of Slovakia. The fifth seed was untroubled in reaching the quarterfinals, saving all six break points that he faced for the 7-5, 6-1 victory. The Dominican broke serve late in the first set, before grabbing two more in the second set to claim victory in an hour and 11 minutes. Estrella Burgos, who become the oldest first-time winner in the Open Era in Quito last year, only dropped four points on his second serve. He won 46 percent of the points off of Martin's serve.
Seventh seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas survived a two-hour and 21 minute battle with American Rajeev Ram. The Spaniard fought back from a set down for the 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 victory. Ram pounded 16 aces and won 82 percent of his first serve points, but he was unable to get much going on return. He only managed to break Ramos-Vinolas’ serve once on five break points. Ram’s lone break came in the third set. He served for the match at 5-4, but Ramos-Vinolas broke Ram in consecutive games and wound up winning four straight to claim the deciding set 7-5.
The highest seed of the large Spanish contingent, second seed Feliciano Lopez, was also forced to fight back from a set down to win his opening round match against Joao Souza. Despite being out-aced 15 to 14, Lopez would eventually emerge victorious in just under two hours. He defeated the Brazilian qualifier 4-6, 7-5(5), 6-2. It was Souza getting out of the gate quickly, claiming the lone break in the opening set. There were no break points in the second set, which required a tiebreak. With the match on the line, Lopez managed to fight it out and force a decider. The final set was all Lopez, who broke serve twice and saved all three break points he faced to set up a quarterfinal clash with Ramos-Vinolas.
Verdasco Falls to Qualifier
It was not all survival stories for the Spaniards as there was one casualty in the second round. Fourth seed Fernando Verdasco also dropped the first set, only to bounce back and win the second. His comeback came up short as he was defeated 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 by qualifier Renzo Olivo. Olivo pounded 15 aces and was gifted nine double faults by the Spaniard, who recently upset Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. Both men broke serve five times in the match, but it was Olivo grabbing a pair of breaks in the deciding set. The Argentine won 50 percent of the points off the fourth seed's serve in the deciding set, which helped send him through to the quarterfinals.
Seven of the eight seeds will take to the court in the quarterfinals tomorrow. Thomaz Bellucci will kick off the action, followed by top seed Bernard Tomic.