Quarterfinal matches will be played on Center Court Friday at Gstaad, with four Frenchmen still alive in the draw – third seed and defending champion Richard Gasquet, fifth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, sixth seed Marc Gicquel and unseeded Gael Monfils.
Opening play are Andreas Seppi of Italy and Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina. They are meeting for the first time in ATP play. In the second round, Vassallo Arguello beat Lapentti, and Seppi downed Koubek.
Seppi, 23, is in his first quarterfinal since last June at Nottingham, where he reached the semifinals (l. to Bjorkman). This year, he didn’t won more than one match at any ATP event until now. Seppi has a lifetime record of 4-3 here.
Vassallo Arguello, 27, is playing in his second quarterfinal of the year. He made the semifinals at Vina del Mar in February (l. to Horna). He is making his debut here.
The second match features Gicquel against qualifier Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in their first ATP encounter. In the second round, Gicquel beat Eschauer, while Stepanek upset No. 4 seed Kohlschreiber.
Gicquel, 30, is playing in his fourth quarterfinal of the year. He reached the semifinals at Casablanca (l. to Mathieu) and the quarters at Zagreb (l. to Youzhny) and Halle (l. to Nieminen). He is making his debut here.
Stepanek, 28, is playing in his first quarterfinal since last July at Wimbledon (l. to Bjorkman). He is still trying to work his way up from a back injury that kept him out of action for the second half of last year. He has a career record of 11-4 here, reaching the semifinals in 2002-03.
In the third match, Gasquet battles Russian wild card Igor Andreev. The Russian carries a 2-1 edge against his foe. In the second round, Gasquet beat Vliegen, while Andreev upset No. 8 seed Starace.
Gasquet, 21, reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon last week (l. to Federer). That brought his ATP Ranking to a career-best No. 7. This is his eighth quarterfinal of 2007. His title here last year (d. Lopez) was the only of his four ATP career crowns to come on clay. That title came in Gasquet’s debut here.
Andreev, who turns 24 Saturday, is playing in his third quarterfinal of the year. He made it that far at Vina del Mar in February (l. to Horna) and Roland Garros in June (l. to Djokovic). He has a career mark of 6-2 here, reaching the final in his 2004 debut (l. to Federer).
In the last quarterfinal, Mathieu squares off with Monfils for the first time in ATP competition. In the second round, Mathieu beat Lopez, while Monfils defeated Vanek.
Mathieu, 25, reached a career-best ATP ranking of No. 28 this week. He is playing in his fifth quarterfinal of the year and is 2-2 so far. He won his third career title and first in five years in April at Casablanca (d. Montanes). He has a lifetime record of 4-3 in Gstaad.
Monfils, 20, is playing in his second quarterfinal of the year. He was runner-up at Poertschach in May (l. to Monaco). That was his first final since 2006 in Doha (l. to Federer). Monfils is making his debut. (ATP Digital Services)
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