David Ferrer of Spain struggled and fumed and managed to move into the quarter-finals by ousting Jose Acasuso of Argentina 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 at the ATP Croatia Open on Thursday.
In the quarter-finals, he will face countryman and four-time Umag champion Carlos Moya -- who beat Ferrer in the final in 2002. Moya smoothly defeated compatriot and qualifier Pere Riba 6-0, 6-3 in just 50 minutes.
Moya, seeded sixth, won Umag in 1996, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
In their encounters in Umag, Moya leads Ferrer 3-0.
Moya has 40 victories against eight defeats in Umag; this is his 13th appearance here, and 11th quarter-finals.
Ferrer, the highest remaining seed at No. 4, was losing 6-2, 2-0 when he smashed his racket in anger. He acknowledged later "it seemed the match was slipping out of my hands."
He calmed down, though, and saved break points at 4-4 and 5-5 in the second set before taking control from the tiebreaker.
Ferrer was to have been the top seed last year in Umag but withdrew a day before, citing exhaustion after winning in Stuttgart.
Seventh-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri continued his excellent streak in Umag -- where he has never lost before the semi-finals -- by reaching the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over Mischa Zverev of Germany.
Sergio Roitman surprised fourth-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday in the third round of the Austrian Open.
Top-seeded Tommy Robredo and defending champion Agustin Calleri advanced to the quarter-finals. Robredo beat Igor Andreev 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5), while Calleri defeated Diego Hartfield 7-5, 6-2.
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