In-Form Gasquet, Del Potro To Clash In Marseille

© Yohan Brandt/Open 13World No. 15 Richard Gasquet has a 6-4 record in Marseille.

Fifth seed Richard Gasquet reached his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season on Thursday when he defeated World No. 81 Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in 71 minutes at the Open 13 in Marseille.

Gasquet hit 10 aces and saved all six break points he faced. The World No. 15 also reached the last eight at the Apia International Sydney (l. to Istomin), the Open Sud de France in Montpellier (l. to Kohlschreiber) and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (l. to Davydenko).

"I served well today and played good during the important moments," said Gasquet. "If I continue like this, I can go further in the tournament. I'm playing solidly and feel well this week. This is a great tournament and I always like coming back here."
 
Gasquet will next face Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who drew level with Nikolay Davydenko at 6-7(6), 6-4 when the Russian retired with a right foot injury. "They both played very well in Rotterdam," said Gasquet. "They are two great players."

World No. 10 del Potro has advanced to the quarter-finals in each of his tournament appearances this season, reaching this stage in Sydney (l. to Baghdatis) and the Australian Open (l. to Federer) and finishing runner-up to Roger Federer in Rotterdam on Sunday.

"I’m getting confidence match by match," said the Argentine. "I made the final in Rotterdam playing good tennis, playing tough opponents. And here I have a really difficult draw, but I’m really glad to be playing this tournament for the first time. It’s a really nice tournament."

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French qualifier Albano Olivetti scored a huge upset Thursday, firing 23 aces en route to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over World No. 8 Mardy Fish.

The 20-year-old Olivetti, who began the week at No. 388 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, became the first player ranked outside the Top 350 to beat a Top 10 player since June 2007, when a 488th-ranked Peter Wessels defeated World No. 7 Tommy Robredo in the 's-Hertogenbosch quarter-finals.

France's Michael Llodra, the 2010 champion and 2009 runner-up, knocked out sixth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(5) in two hours and 20 minutes.

Llodra, who led 5-2 and 6-3 in the tie-break, hit 19 aces and saved six of nine break points. Dolgopolov, last month's Brisbane International finalist (l. to Murray), dropped to a 7-4 record on the season.