Del Potro denies Beck, Berdych through in 19 minutes

By Bill Scott Feb 16, 2012, 21:14 GMT

Rotterdam, Netherlands - Argentine Juan Del Potro got the late ace he sought as the third seed continued a successful career debut at the ABN-AMRO World Tennis with a 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Slovak Karol Beck on Thursday.

The South American fired his ninth ace to earn two match points but had the first over-ruled on a linecall challenge ruled out by Hawk-Eye. Del Potro merely cranked up his big serve to produce a winner and close out the second-round match a point later.

It took more than an hour and three-quarters for the 2009 US Open winner to advance into the quarter-finals at the Ahoy stadium.

'I focused in the last game on trying to get an ace. I got one and I'm just glad that I'm through,' said Del Potro.

Second seed Tomas Berdych needed just 19 minutes to reach the last eight after opponent Marcos Baghdatis was forced to quit trailing 3-0 due to a left calf injury.

The easy outing sent the Czech through to face Andreas Seppi, after the Italian defeated German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2.

Berdych was the second major seed to go through without problems at the indoor event.

On Wednesday evening, top seed Roger Federer got a free pass into the quarters as intended second-round opponent Mikhail Youzhny was felled by a left foot injury and pulled out of their Thursday meeting.

But Federer had to go to the court with that knowledge and win his first-round opener, defeating Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-4 to the relief of both himself and the crowd. He will face Jarkko Nieminen in the quarters, holding a 12-0 record against the Finn.

The Swiss, who had been due to play on Thursday, agreed to participate in a best-of-10 tiebreak set against local pro Igor Sijsling to keep a night-time sellout crowd happy.

Federer won the Rotterdam title in 2005 and is playing for the first time since that victory. His match against Mahut was witnessed by a tournament-record 9,952 fans, another testament to the Federer Factor.

Berdych took full advantage of his brief spell on court against Baghdatis, achieving five break points against the former Australian open finalist.

French fifth seed Richard Gasquet continued to set a personal best in Rotterdam by winning his second straight match. The number 16 defeated current Russian and former American Alex Bogomolov 6-3, 6-2.

'I'm happy to win in two sets and get into the quarters,' said Gasquet, a first-round loser in his only other Rotterdam appearance. 'I didn't know how he plays, but I'm in good shape with my game and hoping to go further - why not win the next round.'

Gasquet will play his quarter-final against Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko, whom he beat a fortnight ago in Montpellier. The French player stands 4-1 in that series.