The Gstaad Open was hit with a second injury walkover in as many days as sixth seed Nicolas Kiefer had to withdraw from his second-round match with a foot injury on Thursday. It handed a place in the quarterfinals to Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. On Wednesday, eighth seed Guillermo Canas of Argentine went though the first round without firing a shot when Belgian Kristof Vliegen pulled out ill. Another seed went out on the fast clay courts at 800-meter altitude with Romanian Victor Hanescu winning a two-and-a-half-hour battle over number four Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (13-11). He will face rising French youngster Jeremy Chardy, who overcame German Dominik Meffert 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4) in another marathon in just under three hours. Chardy also needed three sets with tiebreakers in his victory over Dominik Meffert of Germany, winning 6-7 (1), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4). Fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia beat Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-3, 6-2. Bopanna hooks Fish American top seed Mardy Fish was sent crashing out of the ATP Hall of Fame Championship, losing his opening match to lowly qualifier Rohan Bopanna 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 on Wednesday. Bopanna, who turned pro six years ago and is ranked 374th in the world, stunned Fish with 14 aces and reached the quarterfinals for the first time in his career. Bopanna's next opponent will be countryman Prakash Amritraj, a 7-5, 6-3 winner over American Jesse Levine. Seventh seed Canadian Frank Dancevic rallied against American Brendan Evans, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Dancevic will next square off with No. 7 Igor Kunitsyn of Russia who rolled over countryman Mikhail Ledovskikh, 6-1, 6-1. Pennetta advances Top-seeded Flavia Pennetta advanced to the Palermo International quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Lourdes Dominguez Lino on Wednesday. Also, fourth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain overcame a rough start before eliminating Galina Voskoboeva of Russia 1-6, 6-3, 6-1; and No. 5 Sara Errani of Italy also had some early problems in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine. Ferrer, Robredo advance Top-seeded David Ferrer and No. 3 Tommy Robredo won in straight sets Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Swedish Open. Ferrer, the defending champion, beat Boris Pashanski of Serbia 7-5, 6-1. Robredo defeated Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman 6-2, 6-3. It was Bjorkman's last singles match at the clay-court tournament. The 36-year-old Swede, a nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion, is retiring after this season. He has won six doubles titles at Bastad. Ferrer will play eighth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden and Robredo will take on seventh-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in Friday's quarterfinals. Soderling, the last Swede in singles, downed Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-3, while Nieminen beat Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-3, 6-1. Kohlschreiber in quarters In Stuttgart, fourth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber reached the quarterfinals of the Mercedes Cup on Thursday by beating Yuri Schukin 6-3, 6-3. Kohlschreiber, who is Germany's top Davis Cup player, broke the Kazakhstan qualifier's first service game and raced to a 5-1 lead before winning in 80 minutes at the clay-court event. “I want to still be in this event over the weekend,” said Kohlschreiber, who hadn't reached the quarterfinals in three previous attempts. Kohlschreiber next plays Juan Martin Del Potro, a 19-year-old Argentine who defeated sixth-seeded Simone Bolleli of Italy 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic beat Brian Dabul of Argentina 7-6 (5), 0-6, 7-6 (5) after having replaced defending champion Rafael Nadal when he pulled out with knee problems after winning Wimbledon on Sunday. Hernych was eliminated in qualifying until Nadal's injury gave him a second chance in the main field.
