Johansson, Pavel cruise into Quarters

No. 2 seed Johansson and No. 4 seed Pavel advanced into the quarterfinals, sixth-seeded Hrbaty lost a tough match, while the reigning Asian Champion destroyed last year's runner-up to complete the bottom half of the draw.

Second-seeded Thomas Johansson (SWE) had a troublesome first set which he dropped to Olivier Rochus (BEL) 4-6. The No. 1 Swede pulled it together in the second set, and unleashed his characteristically-strong first serves to win the second set 6-3 to even the match up.

Rochus broke the Swede again early in the third set, but Johansson kept his nerve, broke back the very next game, and then went on to break the Belgian again to wrap up the match 4-6 6-3 6-4, booking a place in the round of eight. "I did expect that it was going to be a very, very tough match since I have watched him practice.

He played well today especially at the baseline. I couldn't hurt him there at all. I tried to make him run and did well in the second and third sets. He hit a lot of second serves and that gave me the break I needed," said Johansson.

Andrei Pavel (ROM), the fourth seed in the tournament, had a relatively easy time against Stefano Galvani (ITA), who he dispatched in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. "It was not an easy match," said Pavel. "I had to serve very well, and I was hoping he would be nervous, but he wasn't. I was under pressure, and I am happy that my serve was working and I won," he added.

Alex Calatrava (ESP) had to dig deep and come back from being a set down to pull off an upset win over sixth-seeded Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) 2-6 7-5 6-2. The Spaniard saved two match-points on his own serve in the second set, and then shifted gears to upset the "Dominator", and move into the quarterfinals, where he is set to meet Pavel.

Asian Champion Paradorn Srichaphan (AUS) continued his good form at the tournament, and took over an hour to make quick work of last year's finalist Andrei Stoliarov (RUS). Srichaphan, who has been given a wild card into the Australian Open, scored an impressive 6-2 6-1 victory over the Russian, and moves into the quarters, where he will meet Johansson.

In doubles action, the Indian pair of Prahlad Srinath and Ajay Ramaswamy defeated Prakash Amritraj (USA) and Mustafa Ghouse (IND) 7-6(2) 6-2 on center court. Second-seeded Byron Black (ZIM) and Fabrice Santoro (FRA) made easy work of Jaroslav Levinski (CZE) and David Skoch (CZE), beating them 6-3 6-1. Two other Czech pairs, however, advanced into the quarterfinals as third-seeded Frantisek Cermak and Petr Luxa overcame Jeff Coetzee (RSA) and Sander Groen (NED) 6-4 6-7(7) 6-1, while the fourth-seeded Tomas Cibulec and Ota Fukarek took care of Aussies Tim Crichton and Jordan Kerr 7-6(3) 4-6 6-2.

Friday's schedule will see top seed Guillermo Canas (ARG) start things off on center court against Ivo Karlovic (CRO), followed by the much-awaited doubles match-up of top-seeded Indian pair Mahesh Bhupathi-Leander Paes against Thomas Johansson (SWE) - Andrei Pavel (ROM).

Third seed Fabrice Santoro (FRA) takes on Irakli Labadze (GEO), followed by Frantisek Cermak (CZE)-Petr Luxa (CZE) taking on Prahlad Srinath (IND) - Ajay Ramaswamy (IND).

On the outside court, Jiri Vanek (CZE) will go up against Noam Okun (ISR), Karol Kucera (SVK) will take on Dennis van Scheppingen (NED), followed by Lucas Arnold (ARG) - Guillermo Canas (ARG) against Tomas Cibulec (CZE) - Ota Fukarek (CZE).

The Tata Open 2002 - Complete Coverage