GSTAAD, Switzerland (AFP) - German sixth seed Nicolas Kiefer dealt the Gstaad Open another blow on Thursday when he became the second player in two days to hobble out of the tournament.

The 31-year-old, who was suffering from a foot injury, had only recently recovered after missing a year from with a wrist injury which required surgery.

On Wednesday, number eight seed Guillermo Canas of Argentina went into the second round without hitting a ball when Belgian Kristof Vliegen pulled out ill.

Kiefer hurt himself in a doubles match but waited until the last minute before handing a place in the quarter-finals to Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

"I'm enjoying my tennis and doing everything I can to win," said the veteran who lost in third round of Wimbledon to Rafael Nadal.

"The most important thing is to wake up healthy, give 100 percent and enjoy your game."

The German was playing Gstaad for the first time since 2000 after competing in the alpine venue in 1997 and 1998 and reaching a pair of quarter-final spots.

The 88th-ranked Garcia-Lopez goes through with his 15th win of the season and faces Russian third seed Mikhail Youzhny who defeated Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-3, 6-2.

Another seed went out on the fast clay courts at 800-metre altitude with Romanian Victor Hanescu winning a two-and-a-half-hour battle over number four Ivo Karlovic 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (13/11).

Despite 28 aces from the towering Croatian in a match where all five break points went for nought, number 80 Hanescu, playing the event for the first time in four years, reached the last eight.

There he will face rising French youngster Jeremy Chardy, who overcame German Dominik Meffert 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in another marathon in just under three hours.

Number 103 Chardy made a surprise run to the fourth round at Roland Garros, defeating seventh seed David Nalbandian en route.

"I'm not so surprised to have done well today," said Chardy. "The altitude makes things a lot different on the clay.

"But this match cannot compare to my time at Roland Garros. There the crowd encouraged me in every match, it was just incredible. That will be one of the highlights of my career."