Estoril Open 2005 News and Events

Dinara Safina
© João Lagos Sports

The upsets continued on day three at the Estoril Open as No. 3 seed Joachim Johansson went down in straight sets at the hands of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Following the loss of defending champion Juan Ignacio Chela on Tuesday, Garcia-Lopez took just 75 minutes to record a 6-2, 6-4 victory and reach his second ATP quarterfinal of the season.

The Spaniard, who reached the semifinals in Chennai in the opening week of the season and defeated Carlos Moya at the Australian Open, will now meet lucky loser Juan Antonio Marin, who defeated 2003 Estoril Open runner-up Agustin Calleri.

Marin, the Costa Rican who stands at No. 226 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Rankings, followed up his first round victory over Chela with a 6-4, 3-1 win over Calleri when the Argentine retired with a back injury.

There were no problems for second seed Gaston Gaudio however, as the reigning Roland Garros champion booked his place in the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Czech Michal Tabara.

Gaudio, who is looking to claim his third clay court title of the year this week after picking up titles in Vina del Mar and Buenos Aires, will now meet No. 8 seed Feliciano Lopez after the Spaniard defeated countryman Albert Montanes 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 in just under two hours to reach his fourth quarterfinal of the season.

Meanwhile, in delayed first round action, 1999 Estoril Open champion Albert Costa overcame Olympic gold medalist and No. 5 seed Nicolas Massu. With Massu leading 6-3, 2-3 when bad light forced the players off court for the night on Tuesday, Costa hit back in the sunshine to complete a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over the Chilean.

Costa, who also reached the Estoril Open final in 1995 (l. to Muster), will now meet Italian veteran Davide Sanguinetti in the second round.

In the women's draw, second seed Dinara Safina celebrated her 19th birthday with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 victory over Claudine Schaul. Safina, who was presented with a birthday cake in her press conference, said: "It's nice to win on my birthday. I was really nervous at the start, I was actually shaking at the beginning. I haven't played well for the last few months, but I was just trying my best. I told myself before the match to just go for it and be aggressive, and that's why I won today."

Third seed Gisella Dulko moved through to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Alyona Bondarenko.