Monfils, Lopez into quarters, Del Potro injured in Vienna
10/10/2008 17:02
Eighth seed Gael Monfils advanced to his fifth ATP quarterfinal of the
season at the Vienna Open yesterday, after beating Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3 in 72
minutes.
The Frenchman, who has reached the semifinals at Roland Garros,
improved to 24-14 on the season while the 29-year-old Stepanek dropped to a
31-18 mark.
Former champion Feliciano Lopez continued his strong run of
results in Vienna by reaching the quarterfinals for the fifth time in as many
visits.
The 27-year-old Spaniard won 72 percent of service points to knock
out lucky loser Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 7-6(5), 6-3 in one hour and 43
minutes.
Juan Martin del Potro, who moved up to No. 8 in the ATP 2008 Race
after beating Austrian wild card Martin Fischer in straight sets on Wednesday,
was forced to withdraw from the tournament with an injury to his right big toe
prior to his second round meeting with Philipp Kohlschreiber of
Germany.
Kohlschreiber will next meet No. 5 seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain
today.
Top Austrian Jurgen Melzer advanced to the quarterfinals in Vienna for
the third time as he defeated Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6(4), 6-3 in one
hour and 37 minutes.
The left-handed Vienna native converted two of six break
points and saved two of three on his serve. Melzer is 2-4 lifetime against
Ferrero with both wins coming in Vienna. Two years ago, he defeated Ferrero in
three sets in the first round. Melzer will next face another Spaniard, Lopez, in
the quarterfinals.
Xinhua
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