Top-seeded Fernando Verdasco and Venus Williams both reached the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open with straight-set wins on Wednesday.
Spain’s Verdasco beat Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 6-4, 6-3 while Williams was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.
The second-seeded players in both the men’s and women’s draw also advanced. Fernando Gonzalez of Chile defeated Victor Hanescu of Romania 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-1, and Agnes Szavay of Hungary beat Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-1.
Defending champion Williams led 4-0 in the first set, but lost four straight games against the 96th-ranked Kanepi.
“I expect every match to be challenging, especially on this surface,” Williams said. “At the beginning I had a lead but let it go and from there it was very competitive.”
Williams is playing her first tournament this season on clay, her weakest surface.
The American was often forced to the corners of the court by Kanepi.
“She’s a strong player, so she hits the ball strong and really tries to play offensively from all areas of the court,” Williams said of Kanepi. “She took her chances and a lot of times it worked — and sometimes it didn’t.”
Verdasco showed his adaptability in the win over Kubot. The Spaniard defeated Andy Roddick earlier this month on indoor hardcourt in the SAP Open final in San Jose, and looked just at home on clay, a surface he has not played on for seven months.
“Always winning a tournament gives you confidence, even more against a player like Roddick,” Verdasco said. “But now we are on clay, a really different kind of tournament. The circumstances, the feeling are very different.”
Verdasco will face seventh-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina, who defeated compatriot Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Gonzalez had trouble in the first two sets, but broke free in the third to beat Hanescu.
“The first two sets he was serving really well, it was 80 percent in,” Gonzalez said. “But in the third set I had an early break and I could dominate the match at the end.”
The Chilean will next be up against Eduardo Schwank of Argentina, who beat Simon Greul of Germany 7-6 (4), 6-3.
No. 3 David Ferrer of Spain also advanced, beating Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-4, 6-1. And another Spaniard, the in-form No. 4 Juan Carlos Ferrero, also reached the quarters, beating Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 6-3.
Two-time defending champion Nicolas Almagro of Spain made it to the last eight by edging Richard Gasquet of France 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7).
The sixth-seeded Almagro was down 0-4 in the final set before coming through in 2 hours and 33 minutes.
“It’s clear he [Gasquet] was playing better than me,” Almagro said. “But beginning when I was down 0-4 in the third set I got much more aggressive and was able to win.”
In other women’s matches, No. 3-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-1, fifth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain defeated Colombian Catalina Castano 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, and Edina Gallovits of Romania upset sixth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
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