Roddick reaches Lyon quarters

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:06

The top-seeded American beat Ginepri 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/3) to reach the quarter-finals and improve to 8-1 against his opponent.

Relying on his powerful serve as usual, 2005 champion Roddick blasted 26 aces in the victory to up his season total to 822, second only to Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic (949).

Next up for the world number seven is Robin Soderling, who collected 20 aces in a 6-1 6-2 drubbing of Christophe Rochus.

Another former champion made an unexpected exit on Thursday as second-seeded Richard Gasquet was upset 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7/5) by Belgium’s Steve Darcis.

The Frenchman, a winner here two years ago, dropped to 32-22 for the year and remains without a title since September 2007.

The 58th-ranked Darcis will look to move a step closer to his second title this season when he faces Julien Benneteau, who beat fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo on Wednesday. Eight-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu also was upset on Thursday, falling to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-4 6-1.

Ferrero used his powerful serve to keep the favoured Frenchmen off-balance. He had nine aces and did not face a break point in the match.

Benneteau is one of several locals still active in the draw as Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon also advanced to the quarter-finals.

The third-seeded Tsonga defeated countryman Fabrice Santoro 6-2 5-7 6-3, and will now meet Juan Carlos Ferrero, a 6-4 6-1 winner against Paul-Henri Mathieu. Simon, the fourth seed, topped Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7/5) 5-7 6-4 and will clash with countryman Josselin Ouanna next.

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