First round action concludes, and second round action begins on Day 3 Tuesday at the 2012 Italian Open. Several big names will take to the court for the first time after the Top 8 seeds in the men’s women’s draws earned first round byes. No. 4 Andy Murray and No. 6 David Ferrer on the men’s side, and No. 2 Maria Sharapova on the women’s all moved on to the third round, but not without some trouble from their unseeded opponents.
Italian Open 2012 Scores: Andy Murray, David Ferrer And Maria Sharapova Advance To 3rd Round On Day 3
Murray needed three sets to finally down David Nalbandian. After an easy 6-1 win in the first set, Murray didn’t take Nalbandian to break point once in a 4-6 loss in the second set. He notched two breaks in third set to outlast the the Argentinian, 7-5, to advance. Murray will face the winner between No. 16 Richard Gasquet and Paolo Lorenzi in the third round.
Ferrer took the first set, 6-3, over fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. He encountered a lot of trouble in the second set, however. The two players traded breaks to open the set, before holding serve to force a tiebreak. Ferrer held to take the set 7-6 (3) to advance. He will face the the winner of the second round match between No. 11 Gilles Simon and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Sharapova also won narrowly in straight sets, defeating American Christina McHale, 7-5, 7-5, to move on in the tournament. McHale actually took a 4-1 lead in the first set before Sharapova battled back with four consecutive break points spanning both sets. Sharapova will play the winner between No. 13 Ana Invanovic and qualifier Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the third round of the Open.
In other results, No. 4 Petra Kvitova took out Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets to advance on the women’s draw. No. 13 Gael Monfils was upset on the men’s side, 7-5, 6-3, by Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.
You can check out the full men’s and womens’ draws at the official site of the 2012 Italian Open. We’ll have coverage throughout the tournament in our 2012 Italian Open StoryStream. For more, stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated tennis hub.
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