BANK AUSTRIA-TENNIS TROPHY

Monfils, Lopez Into Quarterfinals; Del Potro Injured

Bildagentur Zolles/Robert Zolles Eighth seed Gael Monfils advanced to his fifth ATP quarterfinal of the season at the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy on Thursday, after beating Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3 in 72 minutes. The Frenchman, who has reached semifinals at Roland Garros (l. to Federer), Nottingham (l. to Karlovic) and Bangkok (l. to Tsonga), improved to 24-14 on the season while 29-year-old Stepanek dropped to a 31-18 mark.

Former champion Feliciano Lopez (pictured) 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. In 2004, Lopez beat Guillermo Canas for the title. He improved to 18-22 on the season, highlighted by a runner-up finish in Dubai (l. to Roddick). The 20-year-old Giraldo, who replaced No. 6 seed Tommy Robredo (left hip) in the main draw, dropped to a 4-8 mark.
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 on Friday.
Top Austrian Jurgen Melzer advanced to the quarterfinals in Vienna for the third time (2002, '06) as he defeated Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6(4), 6-3 in one hour and 37 minutes. Melzer notched his 30th win of the season (30-24) and it's the second time in his career he's reached that mark. Two years ago, he compiled a 33-26 record.
Melzer reached his fifth quarterfinal of the season, the third on home soil. He was runner-up in Kitzbuhel (l. to del Potro) in July and quarterfinalist in Poertschach (l. to Kunitsyn) in May.
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

Info and photo from ATP