Estoril, Portugal – Two of this week's top-three seeds, Richard Gasquet and Stan Wawrinka, were a pair of straight-set second-round winners Wednesday at the $525,000 Estoril Open tennis event.
The second-seeded 2007 Estoril runner-up Gasquet dismantled Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-1, 6-1 in 66 minutes, while a third-seeded Wawrinka popped six aces and handled Spanish qualifier Ivan Navarro 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 at National Stadium.
Up next for Gasquet will be Spanish qualifier Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, while Wawrinka will encounter sixth-seeded Dutchman Robin Haase in Friday's quarterfinals.
Haase held off Spanish qualifier Inigo Cervantes 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, while the little-known Munoz-De La Nava upended eighth-seeded Italian Flavio Cipolla 6-4, 6-4.
The first round concluded on Day 3 when American journeyman Bobby Reynolds dropped Hungarian Attila Balazs 6-3, 6-4. Reynolds is rewarded with a second-round match against seventh-seeded 2009 and 2010 Estoril champ Albert Montanes of Spain.
Also on Thursday, top-seeded and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro will open his week against Portugal's Rui Machado. The former U.S. Open winner del Potro, of Argentina, beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in last year's Estoril finale.
The winner of this clay-court French Open tune-up will claim $95,000.
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