Two-time champion Tommy Robredo reached the quarter-finals of the Swedish Open on Thursday for the eighth time in 10 appearances.
The fifth-seeded Robredo, champion in 2006 and 2008, came back to beat Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to set up a quarter-final with fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
No. 2-seeded Verdasco, seeking his fourth final on clay this year, was a step closer after handling Stephane Robert of France 6-1, 6-1 without offering a break-point.
PHOTO: EPA
Another seeded Spaniard, No. 4 Nicolas Almagro, beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4, 6-4, including seven aces.
The French Open quarter-finalist will meet Croatia’s Franco Skugor, who will be in his first ATP quarter-finals after defeating Sweden’s Ervin Eleskovic 6-2, 6-3 in a second-round match-up of qualifiers.
■MERCEDES CUP
AP, STUTTGART, GERMANY
Top seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia was ousted from the Mercedes Cup in the second round by Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 7-6 (9/7), 2-6, 6-1 on Thursday.
Gimeno-Traver hit a dozen aces and seven double-faults in beating Davydenko, against whom he won only four games last year in Croatia.
Fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero finished off Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in a match which was postponed the night before because of darkness at the start of the second-set tiebreaker. Ferrero will take on Gilles Simon of France in the final eight.
No. 3 seed Gael Monfils denied Spanish qualifier Pablo Andujar his first ATP quarter-finals by 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 and will next face local hope Florian Mayer of Germany, who beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-1.
Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli beat Germany’s Bjorn Phau 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 to reach his first quarter-finals of the season.
■PRAGUE OPEN
AP, PRAGUE
Fifth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain beat Catalina Castano of Colombia 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Prague Open.
To make her third semi-final of the year, Medina Garrigues will have to overcome Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, who swept aside Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday.
Seventh-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary, fresh from winning her hometown Budapest title, eliminated Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-5 to set up a meeting with Slovenia’s Polona Hercog, who advanced after second-seeded Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania withdrew with a knee injury before their match.
Top seed Lucie Safarova withdrew with a thigh injury on Wednesday.
Patty Schnyder of Switzerland advanced to the quarters with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Alize Cornet of France.
■PALERMO OPEN
AP, PALERMO, ITALY
Second-seeded Aravane Rezai of France won her seventh straight match when she beat Mariano Duque Marino of Colombia 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in the Palermo Open second round on Thursday.
Rezai solidified her place in the top 20 when she won the Bastad title last weekend, her second title of the year and the fourth of her career.
She’s set to meet wild-card Romina Oprandi of Italy, who reached her first quarter-finals since 2006 by defeating Masa Zec Peskiric of Slovenia 6-4, 7-5.
Third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy beat qualifier Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-0, 7-6 (7/4), while fifth-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia comfortably beat Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania 6-1, 6-2.
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