Zee Media Bureau/Manushree Chaumal

Melbourne: World No. 3 David Ferrer was made to work in his second round match against World No. 71 Adrian Mannarino in hot conditions at the Hisense Arena at the Australian Open.

Ferrer defeated Mannarino 7-6(2) 5-7 6-0 6-3 in over three hours long duel. The 59 minute first set went for a tie breaker while the second set was equally gruelling battle of 54 minutes. The French hit 5 aces compared to the Spaniard`s none while his double faults(1) too, were less than Ferrer`s(4). However, Mannarino made 73 unforced errors over the four sets. Ferrer dominated the third set, snatching it away 6-0 within a short span of 26 minutes. The high point of the fourth set was the rally for the match point that lasted 24 shots, finally won by Ferrer who snatched the point and the match as well.

At the on court interview David said he was happy winning the match but the heat was too much to handle. “It is tough playing in such hot and humid conditions. It was a long match and I will now just relax and start thinking about my next opponent only from tomorrow,” he said.

On his second set, he mentioned,"I tried to fight when I lost the second set because it was a bad moment in my tennis."

Ferrer bidding to win his first grand slam will now meet the winner of French man Jeremy Chardy and Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the third round.