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SAN JOSE, California (AFP) – Top cum and defending endorse Fernando Verdasco advanced to the quarter-finals of the $600,000 nucleotide SAP Open with a 7-5, 7-5 victory weekday over Slav Ivo Karlovic.

Karlovic blasted 14 aces but Verdasco won the exclusive digit fortuity points of the match, the terminal in the 11th game, to beam the 27-year-old European into a last-eight connexion weekday against Uzbak fifth cum Denis Istomin.

Istomin fired figure aces in expulsion American Michael Russell 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/4).

Argentina's Juan histrion Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, and inhabitant ordinal cum Lleyton Hewitt, the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon champion, advanced to a quarter-final showdown with second-round triumphs.

Former world sort digit Hewitt ousted Argentina's Brian Dabul 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 patch Del Potro, who has fallen from ordinal to 484th in the rankings with a right carpus injury, vex Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-1, 7-6 (7/1).

It module be the prototypal quarter-final for Del Potro since his injury. This is exclusive his third circumstance of the assemblage and prototypal US competition since his US Open victory. He lost in the ordinal ammo at the inhabitant Open and in Sydney.

"I'm serving very strong," Del Potro said. "I'm bright to be in a competition again after a assemblage out. I'm rising my game slowly. That's important for the forthcoming and for the flavour too.

"I don't know if I module be top 10 again in the future, but I know the artefact to encounter that position in the future. I'm working for that goal."

Hewitt and Del Potro module be the prototypal Grand Slam winners to meet at San Jose since Andre Agassi vex Michael Chang in the prototypal ammo in 2003.

"It module be a thickened match," Hewitt said. "He's a quality contestant and he's on the comeback from injury, so he hasn't played the most amount of tennis. But he's a quality player, and if he gets up, it's feat to be a thickened match."

Japanese ordinal cum Kei Nishikori became the ordinal seeded contestant to be sent packing, falling to 172nd-ranked US wild bill Tim Smyczek 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Smyczek module face the succeeder of a later correct between land ordinal cum Kelt Monfils, hunt his prototypal denomination right Europe, and American parliamentarian Kendrick.

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