BCR OPEN ROMANIA

Gasquet, Former Champion Acasuso Reach Quarterfinals

World No. 12 Richard Gasquet advanced safely to his fourth ATP quarterfinal of the season after beating local wild card Victor Crivoi 6-3, 6-2 in 65 minutes at the BCR Open Romania on Thursday. On the Frenchman’s first appearance at Bucharest in 2004, he made a second round exit (l. to Volandri).
Gasquet dropped just 11 points on serve and broke the Crivoi serve five times from nine opportunities. The 22-year-old, who improved to 25-17 on the season, reached the 11th ATP final of his career at Stuttgart (l. to del Potro) in July. He will next meet Russian World No. 97 Teimuraz Gabashvili, who knocked out Romanian wild card Adrian Cruciat 6-1, 6-2 in 60 minutes.
Former champion and eighth-seeded Argentine Jose Acasuso will meet Ivan Navarro of Spain for the first time in two and a half years in the quarterfinals on Friday. The pair have met once at 2006 Vina del Mar.
Acasuso improved to 3-0 lifetime against fellow Buenos Aires resident Martin Vassallo Arguello after a 6-4, 7-5 victory in two hours. The 2004 winner (d. Andreev) and 2002 finalist (l. to Ferrer) fought back from a 4-1 deficit in the first set and a 3-0 deficit in the second set. The 25-year-old Acasuso first served for the match at 5-4, but was broken by Vassallo Arguello who immediately surrendered his own serve. Acasuso, currently No. 51 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, advanced to his fifth ATP quarterfinal or better on the season. He reached the Buenos Aires final (l. to Nalbandian) in February and has a 24-21 match record.
Navarro improved on his 2007 second round performance, when German Denis Gremelmayr retired with a left ankle injury after the first game of the second set. Navarro was leading 6-3, 1-0 with 55 minutes played. World No. 71 Navarro also reached the Newport quarterfinals (l. to Santoro) in July. He last reached an ATP semifinal at Valencia (l. to Starace) in April 2007.