Stockholm, Sweden (Sports Network) - Third seed Nicolas Almagro and former
world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt posted second-round victories Wednesday at the
Stockholm Open tennis tournament.
The Spaniard Almagro got past Romanian qualifier Marius Copil 6-4, 7-6 (7-4),
while the wild card Aussie Hewitt upended eighth-seeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen
7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-4 on the indoor courts at The Royal Lawn Tennis Club
of Stockholm. Almagro and Hewitt will battle in Friday's quarterfinals.
Nieminen was last year's Stockholm runner-up to Gael Monfils, who was a first-
round loser here on Tuesday. Nieminen also reached finals here in 2001 and
2006.
Another second-rounder on Wednesday saw Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis oust
fourth-seeded German Florian Mayer 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Mayer was a Stockholm
finalist in 2010.
In some more second-round action on Thursday, top-seeded French star Jo-
Wilfried Tsonga will tangle with Japan's Go Soeda and second-seeded Czech
slugger Tomas Berdych will face Estonian Jurgen Zopp.
The 2012 Stockholm champ will earn $113,795.
The Sports Network