Fernando Gonzalez continued to revive his game after a disastrous hardcourt summer, crushing fellow Chilean Paul Capdeville 6-1, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the China Open on Wednesday. Gonzalez went 0-4 during the mid-year cement season but has started turning the corner this week in Asia with his first back-to-back victories since Wimbledon.
The meeting was the first between the two countrymen, with second seed Gonzalez moving on to face South Korean sixth seed Lee Hyung-taik, a winner over German Bjorn Phau 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
Fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic, a 2006 quarter-finalist, and holder Marcos Baghdatis both reached the last eight with wins over Serbs and will next face each other for the fourth time with Baghdatis 3-0 in the series. Croatian Ljubicic defeated Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-1 while Baghdatis accounted for Boris Pashanski 6-4, 6-4.
Ljubicic had to play his second match in as many days but had no complaints. "I'm a professional, I'm used to it. I can play five or six days in a row," he said. "I started very well. I didn't make any mistakes and put pressure on him."The Croatian owns two titles in 2007 from Doha in Qatar and the Netherlands. The inexperienced Troicki, ranked 139 in the world, was playing in just his sixth career ATP-level match, but he upset compatriot and US Open finalist Novak Djokovic on clay two months ago.
Spanish third seed Tommy Robredo, who has fallen from the top 10 for the first time since May, defeated Germany's Denis Gremelmayr 6-2, 6-4 to move into a second round match-up with South Africa's Rik de Voest.
"It was a good match," said Robredo. "You normally don't know how you are going to feel. "I started well with an early break in the first set. The second was closer, but I held serve easily, so it was a good match."
The Spaniard said his strategy of playing longer points had worked well. "I tried to play that way because I thought it would be better for me. I wanted to move him around a bit," he said after ousting the 26-year-old German journeyman.
The Spaniard's poor summer season on hard courts - including first-round losses at the Masters events in Montreal and Cincinnati - sent him plummeting down the ATP rankings.
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