Stan Wawrinka: Into last eight in Roterdam
Stan Wawrinka joined Andy Murray in advancing to the quarter-finals of the ATP Rotterdam World Tennis event.
Wawrinka, last year's Australian Open winner, struggled until breaking loose with his big game in the final set as he defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-7 6-4, 6-2 for his second win over the Spaniard in three weeks. He now faces Gilles Muller on Friday.
Earlier, Murray saved five break points to hold off Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 7-5 and reach the last eight.
Wawrinka had his problems against Garcia-Lopez, whom he beat at the Australian Open last month, a tiebreaker deciding a 63-minute opening set. The Swiss regrouped and took the second set before running away with the third to stay alive in an event he last played a decade ago.
He said: "It was a good match with a lot of intensity. It was a tough battle. I’m happy with how I'm playing, generally I'm feeling good here. The first two sets were very intense. But I was playing a bit passive. After the second set I increased my aggression and relaxed a bit and started playing better."
Third-seed and defending champion Tomas Berdych reached the last eight at the Ahoy Stadium with a defeat of Italian Andreas Seppi 6-0 3-6 6-3.
Berdych swept the opening set before being made to work in the second as Seppi levelled. The Czech finally prevailed thanks to a break midway through the final set, running out the winner on his first match point.
Berdych said: "Andreas played very well in the second set. For me it was about trying to play like I had in the first set. I was still able to finally win in the end."
Second seed Milos Raonic came through safely in the last of the second-round matches, seeing off Italy's Simone Bolelli in straight sets, 6-3 7-6.