Former champions Davydenko and Ferrero to face off in Estoril (Roundup)

By Bill Scott May 5, 2009, 18:56 GMT

Rome - Nikolay Davydenko and Juan Carlos Ferrero set up a Wednesday battle of former champions at the Estoril Open as both overcame Kazak opponents in the opening round.

Second seed Nikolay Davydenko, the 2003 champion who lost finals in 2006 (David Nalbandian) and a year ago (Roger Federer) had to throttle back his game trailing two breaks in the second set to emerge a 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) winner over Andrey Golubev.

Ferrero, the champion eight years ago on the clay of the Estadio Nacional, booked his spot by beating Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Davydenko admitted he feared repeating his Rome first-round departure of last week as he stared at a potential third set.

But the number 14, who is playing in only his third event since returning from three months of heel injury, gathered his forces to go through.

'I began losing control of the baseline in the second set, so I tried to slow the game down a lot,' he explained after lifting his Estoril record to 14-5.

'I'm happy to be out of the first round, I'm not yet playing my game. I need as many matches as possible and I'm not looking far ahead.'

Ferrero, a former number one, last month claimed his first title since 2003 when he won Casablanca. The 29-year-old part-time hotelier has won two of his previous three matches against Davydenko, the last contested in 2005.

Spain's third seed David Ferrer ended a six-year dry spell at the event with his 6-4, 6-1 defeat of fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno- Traver.

The Rome first-round loser who had previously played the Barcelona final against Rafael Nadal said his patchy play was all part of the sport.

'You can't play your best every week, happens that you can also lose early.'

Ferrer last played Estoril in 2003 after also losing in the first round the year before.

But relief came in 71 minutes as Ferrer moved ahead to face another countryman, Oscar Hernandez, in the second round.

Ferrer, ranked 14th, broke five times against the number 79 Gimeno-Traver after trailing early in the match on hot spring afternoon.

He was joined in the second round by seventh-seeded compatriot Alberto Montanes, who beat American qualifier Ryan Sweeting 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

French eighth seed Florent Serra beat Argentine Diego Junqueira 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, firing four aces but striking six double faults in slightly more than two hours on court.

In women's play Russian defending champion Maria Kirilenko, the second seed, needed a recovery to see off Canadian Sharon Fichman 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 6-3.

German fourth seed Sabine Lisicki continued to roll after her first WTA trophy last month in Charleston,winning into the second round over Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-2 .