Ferrer, Monaco in q-finals

SPANIARD David Ferrer and Argentine Juan Monaco, the top two seeds, cruised into the quarter-finals of the ATP Malaysian Open but fourth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov exited the tournament at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Ferrer, the World No 5, survived a difficult first set to notch a 6-4, 6-2 win over Russian Alex Bogomolov in his first match in nearly two weeks while Monaco, the World No 11, notched his first win of the season in an indoor event by edging unseeded Taiwanese Jimmy Wang 6-4, 7-5 in 108 minutes.

"It is a good outing on my return since the Davis Cup about two weeks ago. It was a difficult first set but I managed to subdue my opponent before taking the second easily," said Ferrer, a semi-finalist at the US Open.

Ferrer plays Dutchman Igor Sijsling, who recorded only his sixth win of the season by ousting fifth seed Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-2) in a second round match.

"I played him a few times, the last time it was tough in the second round of the US Open, which I won in three sets. He has a big serve," Ferrer added.

Monaco was broken three times by Jimmy, but responded with five breaks to set-up a quarter-final meeting against Canadian Vasek Pospisil.

"It's my first win in an indoor tournament and I am happy the way I won the match. I believe I will get better tomorrow (today)," said Monaco, who won three tour titles this season.

"I played Pospisil in Toronto earlier this year and it turned out to be a tough match. Pospisil will definitely be inspired to make an impression in his first ever appearance in the quarter-finals."

Third seed Kei Nishikori, the World No 17 and semi-finalist last year, battled past Spaniard Albert Ramos 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-1 in just over two hours.

"I was a little nervous as it was my first match here. My opponent played really well and at times, I felt, he would win but I managed to break his momentum by playing aggressive from the second set onwards," said Nishikori.

The World No 17, plays Russia's former World No 3 Nikolay Davydenko, who reached his second tour quarter-final in a row when he edged Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 7-5, 6-4.

Colombian Alejandro Falla battled past an error-prone Dologpolov 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 with the World No 61 converting four of his seven break point chances, avenging the straight sets defeat he suffered to the Ukrainian World No 20 in Brisbane.

"I did not play well.... hit a lot of bad shots. Not too happy, of course. I did well to win the second set but Falla regained his touch and earned an early break in the third to win the match," said Dolgopolov.

The unseeded Falla takes on Frenchman Julien Benneteau for a spot in the semi-finals today.