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| Philipp Kohlschreiber © Action Images |
Second-seeded Radek Stepanek stayed on course for his third ATP title this season in beating Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-3 to reach the BA Trophy quarterfinals in Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday
No 4 Philipp Kohlschreiber and No 5 Nicolas Almagro also
reached the last eight.
The 14th-ranked Stepanek was in control throughout and faced no
break points. In the quarterfinals, the Czech will play either
Jurgen Melzer or Dominik Hrbaty, who beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of
Spain 6-3, 6-4 in a first-round match.
Kohlschreiber reached his fifth ATP quarterfinal of the season
when Victor Crivoi of Romania quit their match with a shoulder
injury while trailing 6-2, 3-0. Kohlschreiber conceded only five
points on serve and broke Crivoi four times.
The German next plays Almagro, who defeated Wayne Odesnik of the
United States 6-4, 6-4. Almagro faced no break points and broke
Odesnik once in each set.
In first-round play, 2008 finalist Gael Monfils beat Guillermo
Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-5, 6-4. The third-seeded Frenchman, who won
his second career title in Metz last month, held serve throughout.
Garcia-Lopez double-faulted on Monfils's third match point.
"I haven't much practice behind me ... physically I have to
improve," said Monfils, who retained his slim chance of qualifying
for the ATP World Tour Finals.
"I am not even thinking about that," Monfils said. "I am just
excited to maybe win another title here and to play well."
Janko Tipsarevic defeated eighth-seeded John Inser of the United
States 7-6 (4), 6-4. The Serb, who reached his first career final
in Moscow last week, managed only four points on Isner's serve in
the opening set before winning the tiebreaker.
"I never ever saw Isner hit one ball before the match ... had no
idea how he was playing," Tipsarevic said. "He has a good forehand
from the spot. I didn't play well in the first set as I didn't make
him move enough."
Tipsarevic used his fifth break point in the second to close out
the match with a backhand winner.
Daniel Koellerer of Austria eased past Jarkko Nieminen of
Finland 6-1, 6-2 and plays 2004 champion Feliciano Lopez, who is
seeded sixth, in the second round.
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