Sebastien Grosjean loses at Open 13

Marseille:

Roger Federer became the only seeded player to advance to the quarterfinals of the Open 13 after beating Finland's Jarkko Nieminen on Thursday. Federer beat Nieminen 6-2, 6-3 in their second-round match and now faces Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands, who beat Cyril Saulnier of France 7-5, 6-7 (1), 6-2. France's top player and the tournament's No. 3 seed Sebastien Grosjean was eliminated by Slovakia's Karol Kucera 7-6 (4), 6-1. Fellow Frenchman Nicolas Escude survived his 2-hour, 25-minute second-round clash against Croatia's Mario Ancic, saving four match points in the last set before winning 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (10). "Strange things can happen in a final tiebreaker, but it's true, to save four match points is pretty rare," Escude said. "I'm glad to have beaten him, because in the future he'll be dangerous." Escude faces compatriot Rodolphe Cadart in the quarterfinals following Cadart's 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over Max Mirnyi of Belarus. Frenchman Olivier Mutis, meanwhile, lost his second-round match to Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty, 6-3, 6-4, and rising French teen Richard Gasquet withdrew with an injury after winning the first set but losing in the second to Belgium's Olivier Rochus 6-7 (1), 5-0. Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman defeated Adrian Voinea of Romania 7-6 (6), 6-7 (6), 6-3. (AP)