0
TOKYO, Oct 2: Top seed Rainer Schuettler cruised into the quarterfinals of the $860,000 Japan Open with a clinical 6-3 6-2 victory over American Robert Kendrick on Thursday.
The German was too sharp with his returns and too quick around the court for Kendrick in a one-sided match.
He finally put his error-prone opponent out of his misery with a well-placed overhead smash after just 64 minutes.
Schuettler, sixth in the ATP Champions Race and aiming for a spot in the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup for the first time, will play Scott Draper next after the Australian upset German sixth-seeded Nicolas Kiefer 7-5 6-2.
Third-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan, still with an outside chance of qualifying for the prestigious eight-man tournament in Houston from November 8-16, beat Japanese wildcard Takao Suzuki 6-2 7-6 to reach the last eight in Tokyo.
The 24-year-old Thai plays South Korean Lee Hyung-taik in the quarter-finals on Friday after the seventh seed overpowered defending champion Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark 6-3 6-4.
Fifth seed Mark Philippoussis pummelled Croatian Mario Ancic 6-4 7-5 under floodlights to reach the last eight.
The big-serving Australian has launched a late bid to qualify for Houston after breaking a two-year title drought with victory in Shanghai last weekend.
Philippoussis, will play Frenchman Cyril Saulnier next in a repeat of their second-round meeting at Wimbledon, won in straight sets by the Australian.
Among the women, Japanese top seed Ai Sugiyama bowed out with a finger injury while trailing 6-4 3-2 to Hungarian Aniko Kapros in their quarterfinal.
Spaniard Arantxa Parra continued her dream run on her Japan Open debut, setting up a semi-final against Kapros with a 3-6 6-4 6-2 win over defending champion Jill Craybas.
Results
Men: Third round Mark Philippoussis bt Mario Ancic 6-4 7-5; Lee Hyung-taik bt Kenneth Carlsen 6-3 6-4; Rainer Schuettler bt Robert Kendrick 6-3 6-2; Cyril Saulnier bt Jiri Novak 4-6 7-5 6-4; Paradorn Srichaphan bt Takao Suzuki 6-2 7-6 (7-3); Jan-Michael Gambill bt Michel Kratochvil 6-3 7-5; Scott Draper bt Nicolas Kiefer 7-5 6-2
Women: Quarterfinals Arantxa Parra bt Jill Craybas 3-6 6-4 6-2; Aniko Kapros bt Ai Sugiyama 6-4 3-2 retired
Second round: Maria Sharapova bt Akiko Morigami 6-1 6-3; Yan Zi bt Ashley Harkleroad 7-6 (7-5) 6-4; Zheng Jie bt Tamarine Tanasugarn 1-6 6-2 6-4.
Kremlin Cup results
MOSCOW: Results from the fourth day of the 2.3 million dollar Kremlin Cup tennis tournament here Thursday (x denotes seeds):
Men: Second Round
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) bt Tuomas Ketola (FIN) 6-2, 6-4; Igor Andreev (RUS) bt Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 6-4, 7-6 (9/7); Vincent Spadea (USA) bt Wayne Black (ZIM) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; Stefan Koubek (AUT) bt Max Mirnyi (BLR x5) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (10/8); Agustin Calleri (ARG x2) bt Irakli Labadze (GEO) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; Marc Rosset (SWI) bt Karol Kucera (SVK) 7-5, 7-6 (8/6); Sargis Sargsian (ARM) bt Yevgeny Kafelnikov (RUS x8) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Tayor Dent (USA) bt Olivier Rochus (BEL) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Women: Second Round
Anna Pistolesi (ISR) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 7-6 (7/5), 6-0; Elena Dementieva (RUS x3) bt Jelena Kostanic (CRO) 6-2, 6-3; Anastasia Myskina (RUS x4) bt Magui Serna (SPA) 6-3, 6-1; Francesca Schiavone (ITA) bt Dinara Safina (RUS) 7-5, 7-6 (7/3); Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) bt Tina Pisnik (SLO) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Vera Zvonareva (RUS x7) bt Vera Douchevina (RUS) 6-2, 6-1.—Reuters/AFP
