Los Angeles - Fifth-seeded Xavier Malisse advanced to the Farmers Classic quarterfinals by beating Australia's Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday at the Los Angeles Tennis Centre.
The 32-year-old Malisse, from Belgium, will face two-time tournament champion Sam Querrey on Friday
“I'll try to put as many returns (as possible) in play, that's the first thing,” Malisse said. “I've just got to go out and look at my own game. Try to concentrate on what I'm doing, keep trying to hit serves like that and be aggressive.”
“I feel like I played a lot more aggressive than in the first round. I have to stick to that. I'm going to miss some shots, but eventually it's paying off. It's better for me to play that way.”
Fourth-seeded Frenchman Nicolas Mahut beat Italian Paolo Lorenzi 7-5, 7-6 (7) to set up a quarterfinal against Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis, who produced another upset by downing Russia's Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5.
Sixth-seeded Australian Marinko Matosevic topped Tobias Kamke 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, and will next face either top-seeded Frenchman Benoit Paire or American veteran Michael Russell. - Sapa-AP