Tommy Robredo and David Nalbandian advanced to the third round of the Open Seat Godo Barcelona Open and left behind former champions Marat Safin and Gaston Gaudio on Tuesday.
Third-seeded Robredo beat fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 6-2 with five service breaks and 33 first-serve winners. To reach his first quarter-finals since January in Auckland, New Zealand, Robredo next faces 15th-seeded Agustin Calleri of Argentina.
"I was nervous about playing at home but I'm happy with the match," said Robredo, the 2004 champion and runner-up last year to Rafael Nadal.
"It's great to be back at No. 5 [in the ATP rankings] -- let's see how long it lasts. I'm not in top physical shape but my technique and mental approach are all right."
Fourth-seeded Nalbandian routed Alberto Martin of Spain 6-2, 6-0 and earned a shot at his first quarter-finals this season.
In first-round matches, 2000 champ Safin and 2002 winner Gaudio lost in straight sets.
Safin was surprised by Italian Simone Bolelli 6-4, 7-6 (5), while Gaudio lost in 43 minutes to Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-1, 6-0.
Carlos Moya, another past winner and No. 1, beat Marcel Granollers-Pujol of Spain 6-2, 6-4 and set up a second-round match with 1999 champ Felix Mantilla.
Guillermo Canas of Argentina, following his run to the final at Key Biscayne, opened his European claycourt account with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Max Mirnyi of Belarus.
Spain's Nicolas Almagro, who successfully defended his Valencia title this month, beat Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-2 and lined up another Italian, Filippo Volandri.
Kristof Vliegen of Belgium defeated Davide Sanguinetti of Italy 6-2, 6-4 and will next try to end the 67-win streak on clay of two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal.
Anne Kremer of Luxembourg upset third-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-3, 6-4 in a first round match at the Gaz de France Budapest Grand Prix.
Kremer, ranked 100th in the world, opened the first set by winning three games in a row before Kirilenko responded with three straight games of her own.
But the Russian, ranked 38th, seemed to lose her concentration and Kremer won three more games to take the first set. The second set was balanced until 4-4 when Kremer broke Kirilenko's serve and kept her own to win the match -- her first victory over Kirilenko.
Top-seeded Tathiana Garbin of Italy struggled in her first round match against Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives, who won the first set 6-3 and came within a point of getting to 5-5 in the second. Garbin, however, won the set 6-4 to stay in the match. Rain interrupted play in the third set. While the court was declared fit for play after an hour's delay, the players decided to continue their match yesterday.
Local favorite Younes El Aynaoui, the only former champion in the Grand Prix Hassan II Casablanca Open, lost his opening match to French qualifier Thierry Ascione 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday.
All three leading seeds advanced; No. 1 Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, No. 2 Jose Acasuso of Argentina, and No. 3 Julien Benneteau of France, who had the toughest time, taking almost 2 hours, 50 minutes to put down Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (5).
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