Tommy Robredo wins, Juan Carlos Ferrero injured at Auckland tennis

Robredo progresses in Auckland

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Top-seeded Tommy Robredo contended with a swirling wind to reach the quarterfinals of the Heineken Open with a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (2) win over Simon Greul on Wednesday.

Robredo was playing his first match at the tournament after a bye to the second round and found conditions trying on center court as he overcame the 59th-ranked German in 1 hour, 38 minutes.

“It was very difficult playing with the wind. It was unpredictable what the ball would do,” Robredo said. “At the end I was a little more steady than him.”

Greul served for both sets, up 5-3 in the first — two service breaks to one — and at 5-4 in the second but Robredo pegged back his leads.

Robredo, who came to Auckland after winning the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, was playing his first match outdoors since September and expected to take time to acclimatize.

Spain has the four top-seeded players in Auckland but Robredo’s win was its only bright spot in the day session Wednesday.

Third-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero was forced to retire from his match against qualifier Michael Lammer with an ankle injury which may jeopardize his Australian Open.

Ferrero turned his right ankle while making a backhand return at 3-1 in the first set. He received courtside treatment from a tour trainer, attempted to continue but played only one more point before retiring.

“It’s disappointing to get injured in the first tournament and I have some doubts about the tournament in Australia. I will try to recover but I don’t know,” Ferrero said.

“They say it’s not too bad. I will have to wait three or four days with some ice, take some anti-inflammatories and see how it goes.”

Fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro lost 6-0, 6-3 to 58th-ranked Marc Gicquel.

Second-seeded David Ferrer was due to play Arnaud Clement in a night match Wednesday.

The heavy serve of American John Isner carried him past seventh-seeded Juan Monaco 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

In other matches, fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber, a former Auckland champion, beat Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-1 and sixth-seeded Jurgen Melzer beat wild card Sebastien Grosjean 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1).