MARSEILLE, France (AP)—Third-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia reached the Open 13 quarterfinals on Thursday after a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win against Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, while Michael Llodra advanced again in one of his favorite local tournaments.
Gulbis had 23 aces but needed more than two hours to win.
Llodra, the 2010 champion and two-time runner-up, put out fourth-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff also secured an upset, beating seventh-seeded Julien Benneteau, the 2010 finalist, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia, No. 6 Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, and No. 8 Nicolas Mahut of France progressed.
Dodig beat Germany's Tobias Kamke 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-3, Roger-Vasselin advanced with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win against Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine to his third quarterfinals of the season, and Mahut won 7-6 (5), 6-3 against Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania.
On Friday, Dodig faces top-seeded Richard Gasquet of France, Gulbis plays Mahut, Struff is up against Llodra and Roger-Vasselin takes on defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the second seed, in an all-French match.