THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONTPELLIER, France — Frenchman Michael Llodra had 13 aces and did not concede a break point as he beat second-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 7-6 (4) Thursday to reach the Open Sud de France quarterfinals.
Llodra hit 20 winners in the first set and was the more aggressive player throughout, using his excellent volleying at the net to keep Tipsarevic back. The Serb saved two break points at 15-40 in the 11th game of the second set and then opened up a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but Llodra fought back and sealed victory with consecutive aces.
"My serve was good today and that helps on a quick surface like this," Llodra said. "There wasn’t much in it, but I think I had more chances than him. I’m very happy to have won in straight sets."
Fourth-seeded Gilles Simon had 12 aces as he also advanced to the last eight with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win against qualifier Arnau Brugues-Davi. The match would have been over quicker, but Simon only managed to convert three of his 14 break points against the Spaniard.
Simon next faces eighth-seeded Benoit Paire in an all-French match, while Llodra plays Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic — who led 6-0, 4-2 against seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki when the Serb retired from their match.
"He impressed me earlier," Llodra said of Hajek. "The match is within my reach but all of these matches are tough."
Sergiy Stakhovsky also advanced by beating Tatsuma Ito of Japan 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3) and the Ukrainian will face Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.
Third-seeded Richard Gasquet will meet No. 6 Julien Benneteau in another all-French match after coming back from an error-strewn second set to beat compatriot Gael Monfils 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Benneteau cruised into the quarterfinals, taking little over an hour to defeat Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-4, 6-4.