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Ferrer survives Suzuki scare
Roddick, Gasquet, Gonzalez and Del Potro all advance
Top seed and defending champion David Ferrer survived an early scare before ousting home favourite Takao Suzuki to clinch his place in the quarter finals of the Japan Open.
The Spaniard, who was also taken to three sets by Jesse Levine on Tuesday, was forced to come from a set down against his Japanese opponent before eventually running out a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victor.
Having beaten 15th seed Simone Bolelli in the previous round and come close to a shock win over Roger Federer in the same tournament two years ago, Suzuki looked on course for another big result as he took advantage of some early sloppiness from Ferrer.
The world number 593 closed out the opening set with a big serve down the middle much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
However, Ferrer - chasing a spot at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai - raised his game in the second and having edged a break ahead served out to square the match.
Back on level terms the world number five looked far more assured and made his extra quality count as he secured two breaks of the Suzuki serve.
He eventually wrapped up the contest after an hour and 20 minutes with a scorching ace, but admitted he had struggled to deal with his opponent early on.
"Takao surprised me," Ferrer stated after the match. "He serves and volleys well but once I broke in the second set I got more confidence.
"The third set was easier. It was a very tough match but I fought with my mind. That's the important thing at the difficult moments."
Tough assignment
Ferrer faces a tough assignment in the next round as he takes on in-form Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro who looked in awesome form as he brushed aside the challenge of Jarkko Nieminen with a 6-1 6-3 straight sets win.
Richard Gasquet produced an equally impressive showing as he dumped out another home hope, Kei Nishikori, also in straight sets.
Nishikori had looked a dangerous opponent for the Frenchman, but his run came to an abrupt halt as Gasquet reeled off a string of winners to record a 6-1 6-2 triumph.
Roddick impresses
Andy Roddick was another to progress in straight sets although he was made to work rather harder by Austrian Jurgen Melzer before sealing a 7-6 6-2 success.
German veteran Rainer Schuettler continued his run with a fine 6-3 7-6 6-4 win over eighth seed Mikhail Youzhny, while there were also victories for third seed Fernando Gonzalez and ninth seed Tomas Berdych who overcame Amer Delic and Tommy Robredo respectively.
Roddick, Gasquet, Gonzalez and Del Potro all advance
Top seed and defending champion David Ferrer survived an early scare before ousting home favourite Takao Suzuki to clinch his place in the quarter finals of the Japan Open.
The Spaniard, who was also taken to three sets by Jesse Levine on Tuesday, was forced to come from a set down against his Japanese opponent before eventually running out a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victor.
Having beaten 15th seed Simone Bolelli in the previous round and come close to a shock win over Roger Federer in the same tournament two years ago, Suzuki looked on course for another big result as he took advantage of some early sloppiness from Ferrer.
The world number 593 closed out the opening set with a big serve down the middle much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
However, Ferrer - chasing a spot at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai - raised his game in the second and having edged a break ahead served out to square the match.
Back on level terms the world number five looked far more assured and made his extra quality count as he secured two breaks of the Suzuki serve.
He eventually wrapped up the contest after an hour and 20 minutes with a scorching ace, but admitted he had struggled to deal with his opponent early on.
"Takao surprised me," Ferrer stated after the match. "He serves and volleys well but once I broke in the second set I got more confidence.
"The third set was easier. It was a very tough match but I fought with my mind. That's the important thing at the difficult moments."
Tough assignment
Ferrer faces a tough assignment in the next round as he takes on in-form Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro who looked in awesome form as he brushed aside the challenge of Jarkko Nieminen with a 6-1 6-3 straight sets win.
Richard Gasquet produced an equally impressive showing as he dumped out another home hope, Kei Nishikori, also in straight sets.
Nishikori had looked a dangerous opponent for the Frenchman, but his run came to an abrupt halt as Gasquet reeled off a string of winners to record a 6-1 6-2 triumph.
Roddick impresses
Andy Roddick was another to progress in straight sets although he was made to work rather harder by Austrian Jurgen Melzer before sealing a 7-6 6-2 success.
German veteran Rainer Schuettler continued his run with a fine 6-3 7-6 6-4 win over eighth seed Mikhail Youzhny, while there were also victories for third seed Fernando Gonzalez and ninth seed Tomas Berdych who overcame Amer Delic and Tommy Robredo respectively.