Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz


After beating ninth-seeded Richard Gasquet on Monday at the opening round of the Rome Masters in Italy, Peru's number one player, Luis Horna assured he could beat anyone on a clay court.

A confident Horna, who is a qualifier at the Masters and is ranked 111th in the world, did just that.

He has advanced to the third round after beating Argentinian José Acasuso.

Even though Acasuso was also feeling confident - he had also beaten a player ranked much higher than him - he was unable to win a set in his match against Horna.

Horna was dominant in both sets and did not give Acasuso, who is ranked 41 in the world, the chance to make it to a third set.

The Peruvian won the first two sets 6-3 7-6.

Horna has now made it into the third round and will go up against Radek Stepanek, a player from the Czech Republic who has been ranked as high as No. 8 in singles matches.

Although neither Horna nor Stepanek have won a Grand Slam, both have two singles career titles.

If Horna makes it to the quarterfinals, he could go up against Roger Federer, Potito Starace or Ivo Karlović.