Soderling first to reach quarterfinals; Davydenko, Monfils advance to 2nd round at ABN Amro

Soderling reaches quarterfinals of ABN Amro

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Robin Soderling secured a quarterfinal berth, while Nikolay Davydenko and Gael Monfils won their opening-round matches at the ABN Amro indoor hardcourt tournament on Wednesday.

Florian Mayer, seeded fifth, joined Soderling in the quarters after defeating Spainiard Tommy Robredo 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Michael Berrer of Germany fought a marathon 34-point tiebreaker in his first-round victory over Frenchman Arnaud Clement, winning 7-6 (16), 4-6, 6-4.

Soderling, seeded third, came back from 0-4 in the first set tiebreaker against Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling to win 7-6 (6), 6-2. The win put the Swede back on track after two first-round losses this year at the Australian Open and Chennai.

Second seed Davydenko broke Spain’s Feliciano Lopez twice at the start of the second set to win 6-4, 6-2 and stay on course to meet top-seeded Novak Djokovic.

Davydenko next plays Marcos Baghdatis, who upset American James Blake 6-4, 6-2.

Frenchman Monfils, seeded fourth, fired 19 aces against Belgium’s Olivier Rochus to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.