Melzer wins again in Vienna

VIENNA, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Two-time defending champion Jurgen Melzer picked up a straight-set victory Thursday at the Erste Bank Open tennis tournament in Vienna.

Melzer, seeded third, defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 6-1 in a second-round match. He converted the only break-point opportunity of the first set to get the lead and fought off five break-point chances for Garcia-Lopez in advancing.

Melzer, born in Vienna, has won the Vienna ATP stop each of the last two years. His only other ATP tournament title came in 2008 when he won a clay-court tournament in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

No. 1-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also moved into the quarterfinals. He was up 3-6, 6-1, 3-1 in his match when Jarkko Nieminen retired with a thigh injury.

But Daniel Brands ousted fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) and Xavier Malisse was a 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-3 winner over No. 8-seeded Fabio Fognini.

Also Thursday, Steve Darcis raced past Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-2 and Tommy Haas defeated Aljaz Bedene 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Tsonga draws Malisse in one of Friday's quarterfinals with Brands playing Darcis in the other match in that half of the draw. Second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro takes on Hass and Melzer meets sixth-seeded Kevin Anderson in the other quarterfinals.