BUCHAREST, Romania, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- No. 3-seeded Potito Starace advanced to the quarterfinals of the $400,000 Romanian Open with a straight-set victory Thursday in the clay-court tournament.
Starace, the highest seed left in the 2007 Romanian Open, dispatched local favorite Andrei Pavel, 6-3, 6-3. Starace moves to the quarterfinals where he will meet another crowd favorite in Victor Hanescu, who upset Albert Montanes, 6-3, 6-2, Thursday in second-round play.
Also Thursday, qualifier Yuri Schukin defeated Simone Bolelli, 6-4, 6-3, and Carlos Berlocq topped Ivan Navarro Pastor, 7-5, 6-3. Schukin and Berlocq are paired in Friday’s quarterfinals.
The other quarterfinals, which were determined Wednesday, have sixth-seeded Gilles Simon playing Hugo Armando and Marc Gicquel meeting Gael Monfils.
