MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP)—Top-seed Andy Roddick and defending champion Sam Querrey advanced Thursday to the quarterfinals at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships with straight set victories.
Roddick, a two-time Memphis champion, defeated Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic 6-1, 7-6 (8) and fellow-American Querrey won 6-3, 7-6 (3) over Argentina’s Brian Dabul to reach the quarterfinals for the fourth time in five Memphis appearances.
After winning the opening set easily against Tipsarevic, Roddick had to survive two set points in the second-set tiebreaker, winning the match when Tipsarevic netted a forehand to end a long rally. Tipsarevic upset Roddick in a second-round match at the U.S. Open last year.
“I felt I played more solid than he did the whole match,” Roddick said. “It was just a matter of toughing it out.”
Querrey entered the $1.1 million ATP Tour event having dropped six straight matches dating to mid-October and was 0-3 this year. But after back-to-back wins, he may be close to returning to the form that led to five ATP Tour titles in 2010, third most behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“I’m feeling better every day getting matches under my belt,” Querrey said. “Hopefully, I’ll just keep feeling better.”
Joining Querrey and Roddick in the quarterfinals were 20-year-old Canadian Milos Raonic, the winner of last week’s SAP Open in San Jose; former world No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina and 32-year-old American qualifier Michael Russell.
Raonic used a tournamant-record 38 aces to hold off Czech Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (1); del Potro beat Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 6-4, 6-4; and Russell defeated Frenchman Florent Serra 6-4, 6-4.
Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia played later Thursday night.
In women’s play in the accompanying Cellular South Cup, No. 6 seed Rebecca Marino of Canada advanced to the semifinals with 6-1, 7-6 (6) win over American Coco Vandeweghe, niece of former NBA player Koko Vandeweghe.
Marino, the only seed remaining in the WTA Tour event, will play Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina, who beat American qualifier Heather Watson 6-3, 6-4.
In the other semifinal, Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova will play Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic.
Rybarikova beat American qualifier Alexa Glatch 6-3, 6-2 and Hradecka defeated Ksenia Pervak of Russia 6-4, 6-3.