BUCHAREST, Romania, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- France's Arnaud Di Pasquale ousted second-seeded Michael Kratochvil of Switzerland Wednesday in the second round of the Romania Open.
Di Pasquale advanced to his second quarterfinal of the season with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Kratochvil in the claycourt event. He reached the final eight at Indianapolis in July and appeared in the fourth round at the French Open.
Plagued by injuries the past two years, the Frenchman missed the first three months of the season while recovering from knee surgery. He suffered with back problems in June, 2001 before undergoing arthroscopic left knee surgery in September.
"It's always nice to win and I played solid," Di Pasquale said. "It's the second quarterfinal I've reached this year on the ATP circuit, which feels good. I played mostly Challenger after coming back from my injury. My game is getting better and better."
Kratochvil experienced back pain in the second set, effecting his performance for the rest of the match. He also withdrew from the doubles match he was to play later Wednesday with Alberto Martin.
Third seed Felix Mantilla of Spain also lost in the second round, falling 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to countryman Galo Blanco. Mantilla had won nine of his first 10 meetings with Blanco.
Two more Spaniards moved into the quarterfinals as seventh-seeded David Sanchez thrashed Belgium's Christophe Rochus, 6-2, 6-1, and David Ferrer got past Austria's Jurgen Melzer, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).
In a pair of first-round matches suspended from Tuesday, fifth seed Jose Acasuso of Argentina completed a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Dick Norman of Belgium and Georgia's Irakli Labadze finished off a 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 triumph over eight seeded Adrian Voinea of Romania.
