Davydenko reaches Pilot Pen quarters

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- No. 1 seed Nikolay Davydenko and second-seeded Fernando Verdasco both reached the quarterfinals Wednesday at the Pilot Pen in New Haven, Conn.

In the final tuneup for next week's U.S. Open, Davydenko got past Fabrice Santoro 7-5, 6-3 to set up a quarterfinal meeting with sixth-seeded Sam Querrey.

Querrey defeated Bjorn Phau 7-5, 6-3 on the hard courts of the Connecticut Tennis Center on the campus of Yale University.

Verdasco earned his quarterfinal berth by disposing of Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. Jurgen Melzer will be Verdasco's quarterfinal opponent after surprising eighth-seeded Victor Hanescu 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-1.

Elsewhere in the third round, Jose Acasuso defeated Igor Kunitsyn 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Leonardo Mayer was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Simone Bolelli; and Florent Serra fought off Rajeev Ram 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) , 7-5.