DUBAI, Feb 28: Top seed and defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero retired from his second round clash with Younes El Aynaoui at the $1 million Dubai Open Thursday, suffering from a thigh injury.

El Aynaoui moved into the third round when Ferrero quit with the Moroccan narrowly leading the finely-balanced match 7-5 4-6 2-1.

El Aynaoui has now won all six of the pair’s meetings.

Thursday’s match was dominated by aces, with 16 coming from Ferrero and 14 from El Aynaoui.

The Moroccan broke Ferrero in the 12th game of the opening set to seal it 7-5 with a forehand winner on his fifth break point.

But after working so hard to take the opener, El Aynaoui immediately dropped his serve to love as the second set got underway, and despite facing six break points at various stages Ferrero was able to hold on and level the match.

Ferrero looked capable of continuing the battle in the decider, but El Aynaoui’s tactic of running him around the court eventually took it’s toll and Ferrero surrendered.

Earlier, British fifth seed Tim Henman breezed past Belarussia’s Max Mirnyi 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal clash with Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson.

Third-seeded Johansson booked his berth in the last eight earlier on day four of action when Spaniard Alex Calatrava retired with a lower back injury while trailing 6-3 2-1.

Mirnyi posed a formidable threat to Henman with his huge serve and willingness to come to the net and volley, but he lacked the consistency of the fifth seed.

Right from the start the Briton imposed himself, gaining five break points in the opening game, but he had to wait until 4-4 to eventually get the break with a winning forehand.

Henman faced considerable pressure in the second set, holding off break points at 0-1 and 1-2, before breaking with a scorching backhand return to lead 4-3.

Mirnyi immediately broke back, but Henman broke again to lead 5-4 and this time held on to serve out for the match.

Johansson had taken the first set of his match 6-3 and broken for 2-1 in the second when Calatrava called it a day.

Until that stage, although Johansson looked as if he would be the more likely winner he had been far from dominant.

On Wednesday Yevgeny Kafelnikov reached the quarterfinals with a 6-1 7-6 win over Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, while Fabrice Santoro upset fellow Frenchman and fourth seed Sebastien Grosjean 6-2 7-5.

Hingis routs Foretz: Martina Hingis returned from a three-week layoff to brush past French qualifier Stephanie Foretz 6-2 6-4 on Wednesday and ease into the third round of the Scottsdale women’s classic.

Hingis, seeded two here, has already captured two singles titles in 2002 and was desperately unlucky to lose a nerve-jangling Australian Open final to Jennifer Capriati last month.

After winning the Pan Pacific in Tokyo earlier this month, the five-times Grand Slam champion decided it was time for an early-season rest.—Reuters