LOS ANGELES(AP) Marat Safin, playing for the fourth time in three days, summoned enough energy to beat Ernests Gulbis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the L.A. Tennis Open on Wednesday.
Safin, who played an exhibition match against Pete Sampras on Monday and beat Robby Ginepri the following night, also teamed with Igor Kunitsyn to win a first-round doubles match on Monday.
The win over Gulbis put the two-time Grand Slam champion into his first quarterfinal of the year and earned him at least a day off from singles play.
He will meet the winner of Wednesday night's match between Tommy Haas, the top seed and two-time event champion, and Jesse Levine on Friday.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals on Wednesday was John Isner, who overcame an injury late in the second-set tiebreaker to beat Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3, 7-6 (11). Qualifier Carsten Ball moved on with a 6-4, 1-0 victory over No. 3 seed Dmitry Tursunov, who was unable to continue in the second set due to a left ankle injury.
The 6-foot-9 Isner twisted his left ankle and collapsed on the court after trying to reverse direction on a forehand that gave Baghdatis an 11-10 lead in the tiebreaker.
Baghdatis was the first to reach Isner and hovered over him until a trainer arrived. Isner got to his feet after several minutes, but was limping noticeably and unable to put much weight on the left ankle and foot while serving.
The injury seemed to affect Baghdatis more than Isner, though.
He missed a second-serve return (to make it 11-all), something he hadn't done really all match, and I hit a forehand as hard as I could and closed my eyes and it went in, right off the line,'' said Isner, who won on his fifth match point when Baghdatis hit a backhand long.I was extremely fortunate to get through that match.''
Isner and Ball are scheduled to meet in Friday's quarterfinals. Isner was supposed to play doubles with Sam Querrey later Wednesday, but pulled out as a precaution. He will have Thursday off.
It's huge,'' he said.I can use that to recoup and see how it feels.''
It will be the fourth quarterfinal of the year and the second in two weeks for Isner, and the first on the ATP Tour for Ball, an Australian who lives in nearby Newport Beach, Calif.