TOKYO (AP)—Guillermo Garcia-Lopez reached his second quarterfinals in two weeks when he ousted sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the Japan Open on Wednesday.
Garcia-Lopez, who won the Thailand Open on Sunday, saved four out of four break points against his fellow Spaniard.
“The key of the match was the tiebreak,” Garcia-Lopez said. “He was winning 5-4 and he was serving, so he had a chance to win the set, but I won the next two points on his serve.”
Garcia-Lopez said his semifinal win in Bangkok over Rafael Nadal was a big boost to his confidence.
“I think I’m playing my best tennis, I have won seven matches in a row now,” Garcia-Lopez said.
Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who lost to Garcia-Lopez in the Bangkok final, won through to the last eight by beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (8), and former top-10 player Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic beat Marco Chiudinelli when the Swiss player retired with a lower back injury while Stepanek was leading 5-7, 7-6 (7) 4-1.
Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, ranked 432nd after thee left ankle surgeries, outlasted 2007 runner-up Richard Gasquet of France 7-6 (2),1-6, 6-4 to make his first quarters since July 2009.
Top-seeded Nadal and second-seeded Andy Roddick play their second-round matches on Thursday.