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The 37-year-old David Ferrer is playing his 15th and last Barcelona campaign, looking good to show his skills in front of the home crowd again after fighting for four ATP titles there in the past. David proved to be too strong for the 15th seed Lucas Pouille, ousting the Frenchman 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and 16 minutes, saving four out of five break points and taking more than half of the return points to control the scoreboard all the time.
Pouille never found his rhythm, hitting nine winners and no less than 40 unforced errors, suffering five straight breaks and staying on just five wins in 2019. David earned breaks in games five and seven, failing to serve out for the opener at 5-2 before Pouille hit a double fault to get broken for the third straight time and hand the set to the veteran.
Ferrer lost only four points behind the initial shot in set number two and secured breaks in games two and four, moving over the top with a service winner at 5-1 for the ATP win 733. World no. 14 and Tour leader in the number of wins in 2019 Daniil Medvedev needed an hour and 50 minutes to defeat a qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, dropping serve three times and scoring five breaks to cross the finish line first.
The Spaniard managed to impose his shots in set number two, scoring three straight breaks to gather the momentum before the decider where Daniil started to play well again, forging a 5-1 lead when Albert netted an easy forehand and sealing the deal with a hold at 15 for the place in round three.
Heading to Barcelona with no ATP wins, Mackenzie McDonald delivered two fine triumphs to enter the last 16, toppling the 11th seed Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 16 minutes, fending off seven out of eight break points and stealing the Frenchman's serve five times to have the upper hand and notch the tenth win of the season.
A lucky loser Roberto Carballes Baena stepped in instead of Fabio Fognini and will compete in the third round now after a hard-fought 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over the young compatriot Nicola Kuhn in two hours and 29 minutes.
An 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime earned the 16th win of the season, opening the campaign with a 6-3, 7-6 win over the experienced Tunisian Malek Jaziri in an hour and 46 minutes. The youngster had to play against only one break point, mounting the pressure on Malek all the time and managing to prevail in straight sets.
They traded breaks in games two and three Felix grabbed another one at love to open a 3-1 lead and clinched the set with a backhand winner at 5-3. Jaziri gave his best to stay in touch with the young opponent in set number two, securing the tie break and wasting three set points there at 6-4, 6-5 and 7-6 before Auger-Aliassime placed a backhand down the line winner at 8-7 to move over the top and enjoy the win on Barcelona debut.