Ferrer outshines Murray on third-round Saturday
ANDY MURRAY stepped up on his second-round effort at the French Open when seeing off last-32 rival Santiago Giraldo 6-3 6-4 6-4 on Saturday, but quarter backers should know that David Ferrer's 6-0 6-2 6-2 dismissal of Mikhail Youzhny was much more impressive.
Ferrer, 30, continues to shine and the big question, even at this halfway stage, is could he upset his fellow Spaniard and Davis Cup team-mate Rafael Nadal?
Ferrer, who has won all three of his meetings on clay with the Murray, lost 7-6 7-5 to Nadal in Barcelona and 7-6 6-0 to him in Rome recently and looks to be gradually narrowing the gap between himself and the world No. 2 on clay.
He achieved the feat on a hard court, of course, in last year's Australian Open - winning 6-4 6-2 6-3 in their latest Grand Slam clash - but to do it on clay against the greatest slow-court player in history would be truly amazing.
Nadal, for his part, was hardly stretched in despatching Eduardo Schwank 6-1 6-3 6-4 on Saturday.
Last year's runner-up and 2010 winner Francesca Schiavone lost to Varvara Lepchenko for the second time in the last few weeks but Na Li, who beat the Italian veteran in last year's Roland Garros final, had to fight hard to come from a set down to oust Christina McHale 3-6 6-2 6-1.
