Gasquet, Acasuso earn spots in BCR Open Romania quarterfinals

The second round winners on Thursday at the BCR Open Romania in Bucharest had little trouble advancing to the quarterfinals.

No. 1 seed Richard Gasquet (pictured) played near flawless tennis in his routine, 6-3, 6-2, victory over local wild card entrant Victor Crivoi to advance to his fourth quarterfinal of the season. Currently ranked No. 12 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, despite an early exit at the recent US Open, the young Frenchman lost only 11 points on his serve, while breaking the Romanian’s serve five times on nine opportunities. Gasquet was also able to win 54 percent of return of serve points in the 68-minute match. Gasquet’s quarterfinal opponent is No. 97 ranked Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia, who was a 6-0, 6-1 winner in exactly one hour over Romanian wild card Adrian Cruciat. The quarterfinal match between Gasquet and Gabashvili will be the first meeting between the pair.

In other second round action in Bucharest, 2004 BCR Open champion Jose Acasuso continued his winning ways as he held off a great effort by fellow Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello, winning, 6-4, 7-5. Improving to 3-0 lifetime against his fellow Buenos Aires resident, Acasuso was able to fight back from a 4-1 deficit in the first set and a 3-0 deficit in the second set to secure a berth in the quarterfinals, which is his fifth of the year. Acasuso made 71 percent of his first serves, winning 58 percent of his service points overall throughout the two-hour battle. Next up for Acasuso will be Ivan Navarro of Spain. Navarro was winning, 6-3, 1-0, when German opponent Denis Gremelmayr retired with a left ankle injury. In their only previous meeting, Acasuso easily beat Navarro in straight sets at the clay court event in Vina del Mar, Chile in 2006. A finalist at the Copa Telmex in Buenos Aires (Brazil) in February, Acasuso is currently ranked No. 51 in the world, while Navarro is ranked No. 71 in the most recent rankings.