Tommy Robredo faces Brazilian left-hander Ricardo Mello in the second round of the ATP Santiago Open

Tommy Robredo, a semi-finalist in this competition in 2009, faces Ricardo Mello on Wednesday for a place in the quarterfinals here in Santiago. Both players emerged from difficult first round matches, and this clash might prove to be as much about stamina as anything else. Robredo bounced back from a set down in round one to beat Frederico Gil 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, whilst Ricardo Mello scraped past Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(6).

Robredo has started this season fairly well. He reached the last sixteen of the Australian Open with wins over Somdev Devvarman, Mardy Fish and Sergiy Stakhovsky respectively. It took Roger Federer four sets to dismiss the Spaniard, suggesting that Robredo is in good form right now. Mello will need to work hard to get a foothold in this match.

Robredo leads his head to head with Mello 1-0, though this record is not particularly indicative of what to expect here, as the sole meeting between the pairing took place back in 2005 on a hard court.

Both players will be relieved to hear that Juan Monaco has suffered a shock first round defeat against Maximo Gonzalez today. Monaco, the No. 2 seed, was a potential quarter-final opponent for the winner of this contest.