 |
| Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina celebrates match point after his win against Dmitry Tursunov. |
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Juan Ignacio Chela held off an upset bid by Dmitry Tursunov on Wednesday to join second-seeded Dominik Hrbaty and Ricardo Melly in the quarterfinals of the Mercedes-Benz Cup.
Argentine Chela, ranked No. 47 on the ATP Tour, made the necessary adjustments after a ragged opening set to defeat Tursunov of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Hrbaty, of Slovakia, was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic. Mello, of Brazil, defeated Amir Hadad of Israel 6-3, 6-1.
Tursunov got into the tournament as a "lucky loser'' from qualifying when both Taylor Dent and Mardy Fish withdrew Tuesday night. Tursunov took advantage of the opportunity by beating Noam Okum in straight sets, then carried some of that momentum into the match with Chela, winning the first set by taking the final four games.
Tursunov also won the opening two games of the second set before Chela regrouped.
Hrbaty, who will face Mello in the quarterfinals on Friday, converted five of six service break opportunities against Hernych.
"I felt I played really well from the baseline, I didn't make too many mistakes and I served well,'' Hrbaty said. "I was happy with my game today.''
Mello had little trouble defeating Hadad, a qualifier who won his first ATP Tour match of the year on Monday. Mello, ranked No. 50 and now 13-14 this year, raced out to 4-0 and 5-0 leads in the two sets.
"It was a match that I played very well from the first point to the last,'' he said. "I was very focused. For me, winning two matches in the same week is very good.
"It gives me confidence. I hope for the same in my next match, the same focus and a good match. It's a tough match against Hrbaty. I'll have to play my best tennis.''