In a battle between two tour veterans it was Feliciano Lopez who prevailed against compatriot David Ferrer 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. With Lopez aged 35, and Ferrer the same age, they are amongst the oldest players in the Top 50 of the ATP rankings. Yet both managed to put on a show for the fans on court three.
Lopez got off to a hot start with the first break and took the opening set comfortably. Ferrer played the second set with far more urgency, and was rewarded with the break that would earn him the set.
Lopez then repeated his trick of breaking late in the set to prevent the requirement of a tiebreak in the third. Some could have forgiven Ferrer for giving in in the fourth set. The veteran Spaniard and former finalist at Roland Garros has struggled this year, and required a lengthy fifth set to win his first round match. American Donald Young was an unheralded opponent on clay, but took Ferrer to 13-11 in the fifth set on Monday.
Ferrer did not give up though, and fought to win the fourth set after breaking in the seventh game. The fifth set saw the real tenacity shown by both players. Lopez raced out to a 3-0 lead, before Ferrer got back on serve. Lopez then raced out again at 5-2, before again Ferrer pegged him back to 4-5 on serve. However, Lopez finally managed to break Ferrer in the tenth game. It was the last game of the match and offered Ferrer no chance to recover, with Lopez progressing to the third round after a real battle.
Lopez will face seventh seed Marin Cilic after the Croatian beat Konstantin Kravchuk in straight sets.
John Isner was another early winner on day five. The tall American defeated Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 to reach the third round for the second straight year.
