Top-seeded Tim Henman was ousted by Croatian nemesis Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the third round of the Madrid Masters on Thursday.
Meanwhile, second-seeded Andre Agassi, No. 3 Marat Safin, No. 4 David Nalbandian of Argentina, No. 7 Joachim Johansson of Sweden, and No. 8 Tommy Robredo of Spain joined Ljubicic in Friday's quarterfinals.
Ljubicic had won his previous two matches with Henman, and made the Briton struggle again. He broke in the 10th game for the first set with a forehand bullet Henman couldn't handle.
Henman broke Ljubicic the only time in the seventh game of the second to level the set score, but couldn't hold the momentum in the third.
He hit three straight unforced errors in losing serve in the sixth game and threw his racket to the court in disgust.
"I was so erratic and so inconsistent ... every game was a struggle," Henman said. "My movement, first and foremost, was poor so I never really felt like I was in the right position."
Afterward, Henman said he felt poorly and had a blood test taken the day before.
"I don't feel ill," he said. "But I just don't have any energy."
He stressed that was no excuse, adding: "I was hitting the ball poorly. I think it's as simple as that."
Agassi, playing his first event since the US Open last month, breezed past fellow American Vince Spadea 6-1, 6-3 in 58 minutes.
"I think Vince was a little flat," said Agassi, who won the inaugural Madrid Masters two years ago. "He [Spadea] was missing more than he probably normally does."
In the last eight, Agassi will meet home favorite Robredo, who overcame a sore shoulder to defeat fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
"Tommy and I haven't played in a long time," Agassi said. "He's certainly been playing well this week. I think it could be a tough match. I hope I can keep up my standard I've been playing."
Safin was nearly as impressive as Agassi, serving 13 aces in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek in under an hour.
Nalbandian cruised over Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan 6-3, 6-1, and will face American Taylor Dent, who beat Germany's Tommy Haas, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Johansson downed Antony Dupuis of France, 6-1, 7-6 (6) and will play Ljubicic.
Luis Horna of Peru followed up his defeat of defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero by upsetting ninth-seeded Andrei Pavel of Romania 7-5, 6-4 and will face Safin next.
Former champion Venus Williams was pushed to two tiebreakers over two hours by a 16-year-old qualifier to reach the quarterfinals of the US$1.3 million tounament on Thursday.
Seventh-seeded Williams only beat Ana Ivanovic of Serbia-Montenegro 7-6 (11), 7-6 (6), and will meet Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova on Friday.
Elena Dementieva, the highest seeded player at No. 3, downed Elena Bovina 7-5, 3-6, 6-0 in an all-Russian second-round match, and will take on No. 9 Ai Sugiyama of Japan.
No. 10 and home favorite Patty Schnyder downed Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia 6-4, 6-3 and faces Paola Suarez of Argentina, who advanced when Emilie Loit of France retired after aggravating a left leg injury while trailing 6-1, 2-2.
Ivanovic, who won her first ever tour match in the previous round, gave 1999 champ Williams a battle, rallying from 4-1 behind in the first set and saving a set point at 6-5 to force the tiebreaker. Williams won it 13-11.
In the second set, Williams was 4-2 up before being caught again, then Ivanovic led 6-3 in the tiebreak. On her third set point, however, she netted the ball and moments later Williams was through.
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