Simon advances to quarterfinals in Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania, April 26 (UPI) -- No. 1-seeded Gilles Simon overcame an early deficit in posting a straight-set victory Thursday in second-round action at the ATP tournament in Romania.

Simon suffered an early break but didn't lose his serve again en route to a 6-4, 6-2 win over Dudi Sela. Simon finished with four breaks of his own and won nearly half the points off Sela's serve.

Matthias Bachinger just got past fourth-seeded Viktor Troicki 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) in a match that took 2 1/2 hours. While Fabio Fognini ousted No. 5-seeded Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) in a match that featured 11 breaks in the 24 games.

Playing more to form, sixth-seeded Andreas Seppi was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and No. 7-seeded Lukasz Kubot rolled by Marius Copil 6-3, 6-3.

The win by Kubot set up a quarterfinal pairing Friday against Simon while Bachinger draws qualifier Daniel Brands in the next round. Seppi and Fognini are also set against each other Friday and the fourth quarterfinal has Attila Balazs, another qualifier, playing Xavier Malisse.