Qualifier Andreev Beats Defending Champion; Youzhny, Baghdatis Advance To QFs

© Malaysian OpenMikhail Youzhny recorded his 36th win of the year on Wednesday.

Qualifier Igor Andreev recorded his first win in seven years over Nikolay Davydenko on Wednesday, when he beat the defending champion 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2010.

World No. 102 Andreev snapped a three-match losing streak against his fellow Russian after hitting seven aces to record his 16th win of the year in two hours and 48 minutes. He last beat second seed Davydenko at the 2003 BCR Open Romania.

"As defending champion, I should probably have played better," said Davydenko. "I had a chance to win, but it was difficult against Andreev who has already played three matches and is playing very well."

Andreev, a finalist at the Szczecin Challenger tournament a couple weeks ago, said: "I had a few matches behind my back. It gives you a little more confidence. For him, definitely was not easy to start, but still I'm very happy with the way I played, and beating a Top 10 player is always a good sign."

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Fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny reached the quarter-finals for the second straight year after he battled past Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 in one hour and 55 minutes.

Youzhny, currently No. 9 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings and bidding for a place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, notched his 36th win of the season after hitting 10 aces and saving eight of 10 break points.

Sixth seed Marcos Baghdatis hit 10 aces past Santiago Giraldo for a 7-5, 7-5 win over one hour and 45 minutes. Baghdatis lifted the Medibank International Sydney title (d. Gasquet ) in January.

He said of facing Youzhny in his next match: "It will be tough. We’ve played each other five times and he’s ahead 3-2. It will be tough but if I play good, then I think I have a chance to win."

Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic advanced to his first ATP World Tour quarter-finals with a 6-7(8), 7-6(9), 6-3 win over seventh seed Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine in just under two hours and 30 minutes. Raonic, who recorded his first ATP World Tour win over Igor Kunitsyn on Tuesday, hit 15 aces and won 71 per cent of service points.

"I’m happy that I kept my composure even after dropping a couple of set points in the first game," said Raonic. "I served well, which was good. It makes it easier when you don’t lose your serve all three sets."

Fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, who has a 1-2 record in ATP World Tour finals this season, defeated Bernard Tomic, an Australia wild card, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 40 minutes. The last time Tomic met a Top 20 opponent was in the Australian Open second round when he pushed Marin Cilic to five sets. World No. 11 Ferrer improved to a 46-17 season mark.

Pilot Pen Tennis runner-up Denis Istomin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin were also first round winners on day three.