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Fourth seed Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and eighth seed Kebin Kim were upset by their unseeded opponents on the third day of the ATP Tour Chennai Open on Wednesday.
Justin Gimelstob of USA beat Bjorkman 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 and Thomas Zib (Czech) shut the door on Kim winning 6-3, 7-5 to join defending champion Carlos Moya of Spain in the quarterfinals.
Former champion Michael Tabara of Czech Republic also had a memorable day as he ousted higher ranked Oliver Patience of France 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
Tabara put paid to the aspirations of Patience, who had a dream start with a win against third seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany on the opening day (6-2, 6-2).
Right from the draw ceremony, Moya has been lucky as he was drawn to play qualifier Julian Knowle of Austria, whom he beat 6-4, 7-6 on Tuesday, and is now the first player to progress to the quarterfinals as his rival Ivo Heubergzer withdrew from the tournament due to back injury.
Moya is scheduled to play Heuberger on Thursday.
Heuberger had conceded his doubles match (with Lars Burgamuller) last night due to the injury sustained in the third set against Kevin Kim (USA) and Jiri Vanek (Cez).
In the centre court, Bjorkman, known as a late starter, could get his moorings only in the second set as Gimelstob was businesslike in wrapping up the first without losing a game.
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Gimelstob rattled Bjorkman in the first set showing superb mixture of fore and backhand winners. The American pinned his rival to the backcourt, rushed to the net for drops and as also made Bjorkman move all over the court.
Bjorkman controlled the second set right from the word go. Bjorkman dropped his serve in the fifth game but he took revenge in the eighth game breaking Gimelstob and stretching the match to the decider.
In the decider, Gimelstob, better known for his doubles play, continued with his tactic of hustling to the net and succeeded with a break in the seventh game to lead 5-3.
Gimelstob raised his game to great measure in the ninth winning it in style.
In the outside court match, Tabara, winner of the title in 2001, shrugged off a lethargic start against a fighting Patience. In fact, the French surprised Tabara breaking his second game in the first set. In the tie-break, the Cezch had a 3-0 lead.
The second set went on serves but in the tenth game, Tabara, who held the edge with his neat placements and good serves, found the elusive break before shaking hands with Patience, who saved three break points in the sixth game.
Tabara, whose rankings dropped after he went out of the circuit following a shoulder injury in 2002-03, had to adopt the tactics of engaging Patience in long rallies, forcing him to commit mistakes.
The 25-year old Czech, a regular to the tournament since 2000, later said he played much better today than his previous match against compatriot Jiri Vanek. "I served better in the second set. I am happy with the result."
In another match, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) defeated Adrian Garcia (Chile) 6-3, 6-3 in 75 minutes.
