ST. POLTEN, Austria, May 22 (UPI) -- Defending champion Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy was ousted while second-seeded Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti survived in the second round of the $381,000 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix claycourt tennis event Wednesday.
Gaudenzi, the seventh seed, was eliminated by Austrian Jurgen Melzer, 6-3, 7-5. Lapentti won his second straight three-set match, posting a 5-7, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (8-6) victory over Irakli Labadze of Georgia. Lapentti is seeking his first title of the year and faces Melzer in the quarterfinals.
Belgium's Olivier Rochus defeated fourth-seeded American Jan-Michael Gambill, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, and Markus Hipfl upset fifth seed Stefan Koubek, 6-4, 6-2 in a matchup of Austrians.
David Sanchez of Spain also posted an upset, defeating No. 8 Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, 7-5, 6-4. In an encounter between unseeded players, Flavio Saretta of Brazil cruised past France's Anthony Dupuis, 6-4, 6-1.
Top seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic withdrew due to a hand injury.
No. 6 Albert Montanes of Spain and Lapentti are the only remaining seeded players. Montanes meets countryman Fernando Vicente in the quarterfinals.
