ESTORIL, May 4, 2017

David Ferrer of Spain beat Portuguese wild card Frederico Ferreira Silva 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the Millennium Open on Thursday to win his first encounter since the Australian Open. The 35-year-old Spaniard suffered a five-match losing streak since his second round win over Ernesto Escobedo in Melbourne.

Ferrer, who entered the main draw with a wild card to make his Estoril debut, won 79 per cent of his first service points and broke serve four times to advane in one hour and 14 minutes.

“I am very pleased with today’s result. It’s nice to get back to winning ways,” Ferrer told.

The fourth seed will next take on US-American Ryan Harrison, who received a walkover into the stage of the final eight, as Juan Martin Del Potro decided to withdraw from the tournament on Wednesday afternoon upon hearing the news of his grandfather’s passing.

The two time Portugal Open champion has headed back to Argentina to be with his family. His appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid seems unlikely.

Third seed Gilles Muller opened his Portugal campaign by beating local wild card Pedro Sousa, who earned his first ATP match win in his sixth try when Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu retired on Tuesday, 6-3, 6-2. The 33-year-old from Luxembourg sent down eight aces and saved all four break points he faced to advance in 67 minutes.

“I felt pretty good on court today. I have already been here for a week and finally got to play, so I am very excited. I am very pleased with my performance today. There was one critical moment in the beginning of the match when I was down 0-40 but I managed that one well,” Muller was happy.

The World No. 28 will take on Taro Daniel of Japan next, who defeated US-American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 28 minutes.