HOUSTON – All four seeds who were in action Thursday at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship were victorious in straight sets to book a spot in the quarterfinals.
Top seed and 2006 champion Mardy Fish, who is playing his first tournament as the No. 1 ranked American, got his 2011 Houston campaign off to a smooth start with a 6-3 6-4 win over Spain’s Albert Ramos.
Fish will now play sixth seed Kei Nishikori on Friday after the 21-year-old from Japan recorded a 6-3 6-3 win over Russia’s Igor Andreev.
Third seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain defeated Somdev Devvarman 6-4 6-1 on Thursday, setting up a quarterfinal clash with his doubles partner, Pablo Cuevas, who picked up a 7-5 6-1 win over James Blake.
Singles Second Round
[1] Mardy Fish (USA) d Albert Ramos (ESP) 63 64
[3] Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) d Somdev Devvarman (IND) 64 61
[6] Kei Nishikori (JPN) d Igor Andreev (RUS) 63 63
[7] Pablo Cuevas (URU) d [WC] James Blake (USA) 75 61
