Gasquet was on the court for 1 hour, 4 minutes in defeating Victor Crivoi, 6-3, 6-2. He broke Crivoi's serve four times in the match and moved into the clay-court tournament's quarterfinals.

Eighth-seeded Jose Acasuso also advanced in straight sets, topping Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-4, 7-5. Acasuso won the BCR Open in 2004.

Also Thursday, Teimuraz Gabashvili posted a very impressive 6-1, 6-2 win over Adrian Cruciat and Ivan Navarro made the quarterfinals after Denis Gremelmayr retired with an ankle injury. Navarro was leading 6-3, 1-0 at the time.

Friday's quarterfinals pairings have Gasquet playing Gabashvili, second-seeded Gilles Simon meeting Florent Serra; No. 6-seeded Carlos Moya going against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez; and Acasuso facing Navarro.

Simon is the tournament's defending champion.