SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Dimitar Kutrovsky took advantage of the absence of No. 1 seed Gael Monfils Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the SAP Open.
Kutrovsky, outside the top 400 in the world rankings, won his first-round match this week and that set him up for a meeting with Monfils, but the top seed withdrew from the event and was replaced in the bracket by Blake Strode, who became a 7-5, 6-3 victim of Kutrovsky Thursday.
Ryan Harrison, who survived a match point in his second-round match Thursday, will take on Kutrovsky in the quarterfinals. Harrison outlasted Robby Ginepri 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-0).
In other second-round matches Thursday Julien Benneteau defeated Gilles Muller 6-2, 6-4, Kevin Anderson breezed past Matthew Ebden 6-1, 6-2 and Steve Darcis downed Radek Stepanek 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2).
