Casablanca, Morocco (Sports Network) - Defending champion Pablo Andujar won a
pair of matches on Friday to continue his quest of a repeat title at the Grand
Prix Hassan II tennis event.
The third-seeded Andujar first needed to win a second-round match, postponed
from Thursday because of rain, and did so easily with a 6-3, 6-0 rout of
Italy's Potito Starace. The 69-minute encounter kept the Spaniard fresh enough
to earn a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over countrymate Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol, who
also had to play a second-round match Friday and advanced with a 6-4, 6-1 win
over fellow qualifier Lamine Ouahab.
Next up for Andujar will be Italy's Flavio Cipolla, who notched a 6-3, 6-4
quarterfinal triumph over France's Benoit Paire.
Russia's Igor Andreev and seventh-seeded Spaniard Albert Ramos also posted
quarterfinal wins Friday.
Andreev dumped Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4, 6-2, while Ramos claimed a
6-3, 6-4 triumph over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. Ramos will play in his second
semifinal of the year, having lost to Nicolas Almagro at the Brasil Open in
February.
The winner of this $522,000 tournament will collect $71,900.
The Sports Network