Sat May 31 10:40:54 2008

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Ferrer outlasts Hewitt at French Open

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Paris, France (Sports Network) - Fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer went the distance on Saturday to sneak past former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt at the 2008 French Open.

The 2007 Tennis Masters Cup runner-up Ferrer came from behind on Day 7 in order to outlast a 25th-seeded Hewitt 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 3 hours, 35 minutes on Court Lenglen.

Ferrer, a quarterfinalist here in 2005, broke Hewitt for a 5-4 edge in the final set and then held his serve to cap off the hard-fought victory. Ferrer recorded six service breaks, compared to five for Hewitt, who also hurt his own chances by piling up 55 unforced errors.

The former world No. 1 Hewitt is a two-time Grand Slam champion, but has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals at the French Open.

The gritty Ferrer's fourth-round opponent will be 21st-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek, who pulled off a mild third-round upset by dismissing 12th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

Former Aussie Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez notched a top-10 upset by ousting ninth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in 3 hours, 19 minutes. The Chilean "Gonzo" is seeded 24th in Paris.

American Robby Ginepri continued to surprise here with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over French crowd favorite Florent Serra. The 25-year-old Ginepri had never even won a match at Roland Garros prior to this year, going 0-5 before going 3-0 this week, and became the first American man to reach the fourth round here since 2003.

Ginepri should have his hands full with Gonzalez in the round of 16.