Lyon: Third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia reached the quarter-finals of the Lyon Grand Prix on Thursday by beating Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-3,
3-6, 6-3.
Ljubicic, the 2001 Lyon champion, served 27 aces and broke his opponent twice to extend his perfect record against Kiefer to 4-0.
Ljubicic will face Florent Serra of France in his eighth quarter-final of the year.
Also, former Lyon finalist Marc Gicquel of France upset Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-0. The sixth-seeded Mathieu, who was named ATP newcomer of the year in 2002 following his maiden win in Lyon, was hampered by cervical pains and lost his serve five times.
Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France will aim for a quarter-final berth later on Thursday when the Frenchman takes on Olivier Rochus of Belgium. Second-seeded Gilles Simon faces French qualifier David Guez.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, October 30, 2009, 09:45