Defending champion Xavier Malisse of Belgium and fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia have both posted victories to set up a quarterfinal showdown at the Chennai Open men's tennis tournament in India.
Sixth seed Malisse advanced with a straight-sets win over Jurgen Melzer of Austria, 7-6, 6-2. Youzhny was a three-set winner over Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 7-5, 1-6, 6-2.
Florent Serra of France also made the final eight with a three-set victory over Belgian Kristof Vliegen 7-5, 4-6, 7-6.
Serra next takes on two-time former champion and 3rd seed Carlos Moya of Spain. The Spaniard rallied from a second set loss to defeat Russian qualifier Alexandre Kudryavtsev 6-3, 6-7, 6-2.
The tournament is being played on hard courts at the Sports Development Authority Tamilnadu tennis stadium. The event is also a key warm-up for the first major tournament of the year, the Australian Open, which starts January 14th in Melbourne.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.