At Montpellier, where the 28th edition of Open Sud de France is underway, three Frenchmen; Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon figure in last 8. In the first all-French second round match, second seed Gilles Simon beat compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-3 to book his spot in the QF. Breaking Roger-Vasselin five times, Simon took the match in a 78-minute match. Simon’s QF opponent is Poland’s 5th seed Jerzy janowicz, who had a tough match against Frenchman Benoit Paire, before coming through 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in 94 minutes. 4th seeded, Richard Gasquet overcame Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-3, 7-6. It wasn’t easy for Gasquet as he was down 3-6 in the second set tie-break but managed to reel off five straight points for the win. Gasquet’s QF opponent will be sixth seed Uzbek Denis Istomin, who defeated Israel’s Dudi Sela 7-6, 6-2. Germany’s 3rd seed Philipp Kohlschreiber battled from a set down to finally prevail over Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 3-6, 7-6, 6-4. For a place in the semifinal, Kohlschreiber will have to beat Portuguese 7th Seed Joao Sousa, who reached QF by defeating Germany’s Tobias Kamke 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in nearly a 2-hour fight. Qualifier Steve Darcis booked his place in the QF by defeating Belgium’s Jarrko Nieminen 6-2, 7-6. Darcis will next meet reigning champion Gael Monfils, who beat compatriot Kenny De Schepper 6-4, 7-6.
In PBZ Zagreb Indoors, home viewers felt cheated as the QF line up didn’t have a single Croat. After Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis caused sensation by shocking the top seed Ivo Karlovic, the last Croatian hope was Ivan Dodig. But as the day ended, Dodig was beaten 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 by 8th-seeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers. Dutchman Igor Sijsling defeated second-seeded Adrian Mannarino 7-6, 4-6, 6-1; Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania defeated fourth-seeded Luxembourg’s Giles Muller 3-6, 7-6, 6-4. Muller was within two points from victory after taking the first set and leading 5-2 in second-set tie breaker but Berankis held nerve and took the match to the third set. Spain’s third seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez played powerfully against Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia and Herzegovina and entered the QF by beating the Bosnian 6-1, 6-1. In the same way, Ukraine’s Viktor Troicki trounced Japanese Go Soeda 6-3, 6-1. Italian Andreas Seppi defeated Great Britain’s James Ward 7-5, 6-7, 6-3. In a powerful display, Russian Mikhail Youzhny finished off Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-2, 6-1.
At Quito, the no.1 seed Spaniard Feliciano Lopez defeated Alejandro Gonzales 7-5, 6-2 to book his place in the QF. His next opponent for the place in the semifinal will be Serbian Dusan Lajovic, who defeated qualifier Nicolas Jarry in a three-setter, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi beat Colombian Alejandro Falla 7-5, 6-1 that saw Falla serving nine double faults to make it easier for Lorenzi, who will next face Fernando Verdasco. The Spaniard defeated Austrian Gerald Melzer 7-6, 6-4. In other matches that led players to the quarterfinals, Spaniard Albert Montannes caused the biggest upset by beating no. 2 seed Santiago Giraldo 7-6, 7-5; Thomaz Bellucci beat Horacio Zeballos 6-2, 3-6, 7-6; Martin Klizan beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 and Victor Estrella Burgo beat Renzo Olivo 7-6, 6-4.