LOS ANGELES: Top seeded Richard Gasquet defeated French compatriot Stephane Robert in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Tour's Winston-Salem Open on Wednesday.
Gasquet saved seven of eight break points and broke the unseeded Robert's serve five times in the hardcourt tournament in North Carolina.
"I've known Stephane for a long time now, so I know how dangerous he can be," Gasquet said.
"He likes to play close to the baseline. We've practised together often, so I know his game and he knows mine. I didn't make many mistakes today, and that was the difference."
Gasquet will next face Australia's John Millman, who came from behind to win 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 against wild card Bjorn Fratangelo.
Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun advanced to his fourth straight Winston-Salem quarter-final with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.
"Fortunately I played really well on game points and on break points," Lu said. "My serve was there when I needed it, and that helped me a lot today."
Next up for Lu will be number two seed Roberto Bautista Agut, of Spain, who defeated Cyprus' Marcos Baghdatis 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Fifteenth-seeded Fernando Verdasco fired 10 aces as he rolled over fourth seeded American Steve Johnson of the Unites States 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).
In the quarter-finals, Verdasco will face Serbia's Viktor Troicki, who toppled American Sam Querrey 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).
Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia advanced when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic retired at 5-5 in the first set.
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