PALERMO, Italy, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Top seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain Thursday advanced to the third round of the Campionati Internationali di Sicilia Tennis Tournament in Palermo, Italy.
In the second round, Verdasco thumped unseeded Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-2.
Elsewhere, No. 2 seed Filippo Volandri of Italy beat unseeded Sergio Roitman of Argentina, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-4; third-seeded Gilles Simon of France beat unseeded Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina, 7-5, 6-3; No. 4 Nicolas Almagro of Spain topped Frantisek Cermak of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-2; and eighth-seeded Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo of Spain beat Gianluca Naso of Italy, 6-2, 6-2.
Other winners were Nicholas Lapentti of Ecuador, Alberto Motanes of Spain, and Martin Vassallo Arguello of Italy.
In Friday's quarterfinals, Verdasco meets Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo; Volandri plays Montanes; Simon faces Lapentti; and Almagro will play Vassallo-Arguello.
