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BEIJING, Sept 13: Third seed Marcos Baghdatis survived a second tough test in less than 24 hours to progress to the quarter-finals of the China Open on Wednesday with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Taiwan's Wang Yeu-Tzuoo.
The Cypriot needed a third-set tiebreak to overcome German Denis Gremelmayr late on Tuesday and was equally tested by Wang, who was cheered on by a crowd delighted to see a Chinese man competing with one of the world's top players.
Wang never gave an inch without a fight and exploited the world No 9’s lapses of concentration to force a tiebreak in the first set and break Baghdatis early in the second.
Baghdatis, however, drew on the competitive spirit he so amply displayed in a five-set defeat to Andre Agassi at the US Open two weeks ago to break back and then break the stubborn Wang's service again.
He finally secured the victory with a crosscourt winner and will next face Thai Danai Udomchoke, who progressed when Croatia's seventh seed Ivo Karlovic retired while 6-2, 3-1 down.
Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty was the first seed to reach the quarter-finals when he overcame a second-set implosion to beat Austrian Alexander Peya 6-1, 2-6 6-0.
Nikolay Davydenko played through jet lag to claim the last place in the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Dane Kenneth Carlsen in a match held over from Tuesday to allow the Russian more time to rest.
Wednesday’s results:
Second round: 4-Mario Ancic (Croatia) beat Stefano Galvani (Italy) 6-3, 7-5; 3-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) beat Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (Taiwan) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) beat 7-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 6-2 3-1 – Karlovic retired; 5-Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) beat Alexander Peya (Austria) 6-1, 2-6, 6-0.
First round: 2-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) 6-3, 6-4.
Tuesday’s remaining result:
First round: Baghdatis (Cyprus) beat Denis Gremelmayr (Germany) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).
DENPASAR (Indonesia): Svetlana Kuznetsova began her quest for a third Bali International title on Wednesday with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2 defeat of 18-year-old Erika Takao of Japan.
Sixth seed Marion Bartoli of France also reached the quarter-finals, beating Australia's Casey Dellacqua 6-1, 6-3 and Melinda Czink followed up her defeat of fifth seed Daniela Hantuchova by dismissing Indonesia's Angelique Widjaja 7-6, 6-1.
Wednesday’s results:
Second round: 1-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Erika Takao (Japan) 6-1, 6-2; Hana Sromova (Czech Republic) beat 9-Aiko Nakamura (Japan) 6-3, 7-5; Melinda Czink (Hungary) beat Angelique Widjaja (Indonesia) 7-6 (7-1), 6-1; 6-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Casey Dell'Acqua (Australia) 6-1, 6-3.
First round: Elise Tamaela (Netherlands) beat Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) 6-2, 6-0.
Tuesday’s remaining results: Andreja Klepac (Slovenia) beat Shikha Uberoi (India) 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-3; Olga Poutchkova (Russia) beat 4-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.—Reuters
