Qatar Open: David Ferrer made to work hard for win over Dustin Brown
Last Updated: January 1, 2013 8:45pm
David Ferrer: Spaniard saw off Dustin Brown in a deciding set
Top seed David Ferrer was forced to come from a set down against qualifier Dustin Brown before moving into the second round of the Qatar Open.
Brown made a nonsense of the 162-place gap in the rankings to take the first set but the Spaniard recovered to prevail 5-7 6-3 6-2.
Brown, of Germany, fired down eight aces in the first set and took advantage of his three break-point opportunities to bag the opener.
Ferrer was much improved in the second and final sets and gave his opponent little chance, closing out the match in two hours and 33 minutes.
Fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny beat Benjamin Becker 4-6 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 in two hours and 19 minutes to become the fourth Russian to win 400 matches on the ATP Tour after Yevgeny Kafelnikov (609), Nikolay Davydenko (455) and Marat Safin (422).
Second seed Richard Gasquet went through in an hour and a quarter with a 6-3 6-4 victory over qualifier Jan Hernych, while Frenchman Gasquet's compatriot Gael Monfils took 47 minutes to progress 6-0 6-3 against local wildcard Mousa Shanan Zayed, 6-0 6-3.
Fifth seed Jeremy Chardy was upset by German qualifier Daniel Brands who beat the Frenchman 6-4 6-4 and eighth seed Pablo Andujar's tournament also came to an end, beaten 6-2 7-6 (7/2) by Czech Lukas Rosol.
Lukas Lacko edged out Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1 2-6 6-4, Tobias Kamke eased past Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1 6-2 and Mohamed Safwat took just 41 minutes to beat local wildcard Jabor Mohammed Ali Mutawa 6-0 6-0.
