Chennai: Seeds advance into last eight

Sixth seed semi-finalist Janko Tipsarevic advanced into the last eight of the Chennai Open with a comfortable 6-2, 7-6 (3) win over Russian Alexandre Kudryavtsev on Thursday.

Tipsarevic, a semi-finalist here last year and a member of the Davis Cup winning Serbian squad, broke twice in the opening set (in the fourth and eight games) and dominated the second tie-break to book a quarter-final match with Kei Nishikori of Japan, a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 winner over Colombian Alejandro Falla.

Also advancing to the quarters was eighth seed Robin Hasse. The Dutchman scored a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita.

Third seed and last year's beaten finalist Stanislas Wawrinka will join them in the last eight should he get past qualifier David Goffin of Belgium later in the evening.

With top seed Tomas Berdych and seventh seed Xavier Malisse also advancing a day earlier, the organisers heaved a sigh of relief.

For a tournament bereft of many big names, there was further setbacks in the form of early exits for second seed and two-time defending champion Marin Cilic, fourth seed Richard Gasquet and Jeremy Chardy, the fifth seed.