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Del Potro strolls on as Davydenko is stunned

Juan Martin del Potro claimed an easy win © Getty Images

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Second seed Juan Martin del Potro was caused little trouble by Philipp Petzschner as he cruised into the quarter-finals of the Erste Open on Wednesday.

The intimidating Argentine saved all four break points he gave up to Petzschner to ensure he suffered no significant complications during the straight sets victory, eventually coming through a 6-3 6-4 winner in just under 90 minutes on court in Vienna.

The straightforward win was a relief for the former US Open champion, who was making his return to action after suffering a shock defeat in his opening match of last week's event in Stockholm.

"I think I played much better in this match than last week," Del Potro said afterwards. "I need to play better to win more matches. He was a tough opponent in (my) first round. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the last point - probably the best of the match - was a good way to win."

Del Potro was the first player to book his place in the last eight, but seventh seed Nikolay Davydenko didn't even manage to get to the second stage after he was surprisingly beaten by Belgian Steve Darcis.

Everything appeared to be going smoothly for Davydenko as he claimed the first set in comfortable fashion, but Darcis bounced back to bagel his opponent in the second stanza and then edged a nervy tie-break to win the match, 3-6 6-0 7-6(2).

Jarko Nieminen had no such problems against Robin Haase, however, as he took the momentum from a successful first set tie-break to run out an eventual 7-6(3) 6-4 victor against the Dutchman.

Sixth seed Kevin Anderson also rolled into the last eight, as he defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6-2 7-6(5).

Meanwhile, in the St Petersburg Open there were first round victories for second seed Janko Tipsarevic, Philipp Kohlscreiber and Andreas Seppi - who defeated Oliver Rochus, Carlos Berlocq and Vasek Pospisil respectively.

There was also an upset for sixth seed Marcel Granollers, another to fall foul of the dreaded third-set tie-break. Granollers won the first set against Igor Andreev but then saw the momentum slip from his grasp, eventually slumping to a 3-6 6-4 7-6(4) defeat.

In the first part of the second round, fifth seed Mikhail Youzhny proved too good for Julian Benneteau, although not until having been pushed all the way in a 6-4 3-6 6-2 match.

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