Last year's finalist David Ferrer had to work hard to beat Kazakh qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the Barcelona Open yesterday.
The Spanish fourth seed was joined in the third round by Russian 12th seed Igor Andreev, who swept aside Alberto Martin of Spain 6-2, 6-2.
Ninth seed Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic survived a fightback to win his first-round match against Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Tennis: Ferrer survives scare
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.