Former No. 1 and French Open champ
Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Djokovic) and French runner-up
Guillermo Coria (d. Mantilla from a set down) advanced into the quarterfinals Wednesday at the ATP claycourt stop in Umag, Croatia.
"I am playing very well and hopefully I can be back at the top pretty soon," said Ferrero, now looking at a blockbuster Friday quarterfinal meeting with Coria. "Coria is going to be very tough. Already in quarterfinals! He played really good today against Mantilla, and if I want to win I will need to be very aggressive. It is going to be a very interesting match."
Also into the quarters was (5)
Jiri Novak (d. Portas in three after a bagel in the first) and
Lukas Dlouhy winning the all-Serb battle with Ilia Bozoljac in straight sets.
On tap for Thursday in the resort town by the sea are Tipsarevic vs. (3) Robredo, (8) Volandri vs. Garcia-Lopez, Vliegen vs. (6) Moya, and (4) Ferrer vs. Vicente in an all-Spanish.
