UPDATE 6pm: French third seed Gilles Simon has taken down Colombian leftie Alejandro Falla in two tiebreak sets to reach the Brisbane International quarterfinals.
Third Seed Simon was the first man through to the quarterfinals after a rusty 7-6(5), 7-6(5) victory over Falla on Showcourt 1 on Wednesday.
Simon, who reached the semifinals of last year’s Brisbane International, put together two almost identical sets, losing early breaks in both before showing his experience to scrape the tiebreaks on his third set point.
Now with a match under his belt, Simon will wait in the quarterfinal for Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, after the world No.36 downed sixth seed Florian Mayer on Pat Rafter Arena on Wednesday.
The leading seeds in the men’s doubles also managed to go through unscathed, with top seeds Eric Butorac and Paul Hanley and the second-seeded pairing of Colin Fleming and Jamie Murray both advancing.
Doubles specialists Butorac and Hanley managed to fight off the big-serving prowess of Jurgen Melzer and Milos Raonic, claiming a 6-4, 3-6, 10-4 win in a match tiebreak to advance to the semifinals.
Despite getting off to a slow start, Brits Fleming and Murray managed to overcome the talented pairing of David Goffin and Gilles Muller, 7-6(5), 6-4, in their first-round match.
Aussie lucky losers John Peers and John-Patrick Smith made the most of their late inclusion in the doubles draw, downing the young American duo of Ryan Harrison and Brian Baker, 6-4, 6-4 on Showcourt 2.
The pair received entry into the draw following the withdrawal of Oliver Rochus and Radek Stepanek, who was forced out due to an eye infection. The Aussies will now face Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals.