Fernando Verdasco made it through to the last eight of the ATP Croatia Open with a hard-fought 6-2 3-6 6-1 victory over Ernests Gulbis.
Spaniard comes through tough test to reach quarter-finals
Fernando Verdasco made it through to the last eight of the ATP Croatia Open with a hard-fought 6-2 3-6 6-1 victory over Ernests Gulbis in Umag.
Spaniard Verdasco, the top seed for a tournament he won back in 2008, converted five of 18 break points to come out on top in a gruelling second-round clash that lasted two hours and six minutes.
Gulbis hammered down eight aces but also served up nine double faults - the Latvian has still not won back-to-back matches on the ATP Tour since February.
"It was a difficult match," Verdasco said. "Hopefully it will be another good week like in 2008."
Verdasco will face Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia who defeated Croatian Mate Pavic, conqueror of sixth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero in the opening round, 7-6 (7-0) 6-1.
Fifth seed Carlos Berlocq also made it through to the quarter-finals, seeing off fellow Argentine Marco Trungelliti in a topsy-turvy encounter.
Berlocq, who was guilty of five double faults to keep his opponent alive, eventually triumphed 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-1 in a match featuring no less than 14 breaks of serve.
Defending champion Alexandr Dolgopolov found life a little easier against Fabio Fognini of Italy, the third seed from the Ukraine winning 6-2 6-4 after 77 minutes on court.
