Spain's Ferrer into Aussie Open second round

MELBOURNE (AFP) –

David Ferrer hits a return against Olivier Rochus (unseen) at the Australian Open in Melbourne on January 14, 2013

Spain’s David Ferrer hits a return against Belgium’s Olivier Rochus (unseen) during their men’s singles first round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 14, 2013. Ferrer took less than two hours to defeat Rochus 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Spain’s fourth seed David Ferrer, coming off a career-best season, eased past Belgian Olivier Rochus into the second round at the Australian Open on Monday.

Ferrer, elevated to number four seed following the withdrawal of last year’s finalist Rafael Nadal, had few problems putting away the 126th-ranked Belgian, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in 1hr 50min on Hisense Arena.

The super-fit Spaniard will now take on American Tim Smyczek in the second round.

The consistent Ferrer, who lost to eventual champion Noval Djokovic in last year’s quarter-finals and reached the semis in 2011, led last year’s ATP Tour with seven titles in eight finals to finish the year at number five.

Ferrer chalked up an early title this year with a fourth ATP Auckland crown in beating German Philipp Kohlschreiber last weekend on the way to Auckland.

Ferrer broke the Belgian’s serve six times and dropped service twice, hitting 30 winners with 17 unforced errors in a strong all-court performance.

It was the Spaniard’s eighth win over Rochus in 10 meetings and he has played at every Grand Slam event since making his debut at the 2003 Australian Open.