ANDY Murray's unhappy return to Barcelona ended yesterday when he and doubles partner Ross Hutchins lost in the second round of the Barcelona Open.
The British No 1 and Londoner Hutchins were beaten 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) by Jeff Coetzee and Kevin Ullyett, ruining Murray's plan to get in some much-needed clay-court practice. The Scot, who lived in Barcelona during his teenage years, had already been k
nocked out of the singles by Mario Ancic after he decided to enter the tournament at the last moment.
Second seed David Ferrer came through a gruelling 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 struggle with Nicolas Lapentti to reach the quarter-finals of the singles yesterday. He will play the winner of the match between Spanish sixth seed Tommy Robredo and last year's runner-up Guillermo Canas of Argentina.
Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela set up a likely quarter-final with Spanish top seed Rafael Nadal after a battling 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Latvian Ernests Gulbis, while another Spaniard, Albert Montanes, also advanced to the last eight. Nadal was scheduled to take on 16th seed Feliciano Lopez last night.
Meanwhile, former Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian will make his debut at the Artois Championships and last year's beaten finalist, France's Nicolas Mahut, will return to Queen's Club from 9-15 June. "I have never been to Queen's before, but everyone told me that it is a good tournament," said Nalbandian. "I am looking forward to being there.
I think I will be more prepared for Wimbledon than ever before."
The full article contains 267 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
