Upset win has Troicki in Japan quarters

TOKYO, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Viktor Troicki pulled off an upset victory Thursday that boosted him into the quarterfinals of the Japan Open tennis tournament.

Troicki got past fourth-seeded Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) in Thursday's quarterfinal play. He overcame four service breaks -- against two for Melzer -- but survived the two tie-breakers. It was Troicki's first career win over Melzer in four meetings.

He next faces Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who has won his last seven matches.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal improved to 63-8 on the year with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Milos Raonic in 73 minutes. His quarterfinals opponent will be Dmitry Tursunov.

Nadal only forced two break-point situations on Raonic but won them both while also winning all five of the break points he faced.

Second-seeded Andy Roddick advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win over Jeremy Chardy. Roddick won all but 12 points in his 11 service games and didn't drop serve in the match.

No. 5-seeded Gael Monfils earned a quarterfinals berth opposite Roddick by beating Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4. Monfils totaled three service breaks in the match.

Friday's other quarterfinal, which was set Wednesday, has Radek Stepanek playing Jarkko Nieminen.