LOS ANGELES, July 25 (UPI) -- Andy Roddick's serve served him well.
The fourth-seeded Roddick used 13 aces Wednesday night to overpower wild card Brian Vahaly, 7-5, 6-4, and advance to the quarterfinals of the $375,000 Mercedes Benz Cup.
Ranked 12th in the world, Roddick improved to 38-12 on the year,reaching his seventh quarterfinal in 14 events. The Florida resident is looking for his third title of the year, having captured the Memphis hardcourt and Houston claycourt titles.
Roddick already has improved upon his performance at Los Angeles in 2001, when he fell to Marat Safin in the opening round.
Earlier Wednesday, Michael Llodra triumphed in a battle of Frenchmen, outlasting No. 3 Sebastien Grosjean, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7-3), to reach his third quarterfinal of the year.
Llodra next will meet eighth seed Max Mirnyi of Belarus, who eliminated Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.
In another night match, No. 7 Xavier Malisse of Belgium got past American Taylor Dent, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
Llodra needed almost two hours to win his first career meeting with Grosjean. Ranked 101st entering this week, he recorded the biggest victory of his career, beating the world's 11th-ranked player.
