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Second-seeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro advanced to the quarter-finals of the ATP Newport event with a 7-6 (4) 6-2 win over Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan.

The 35-year-old Santoro, awarded a first-round bye, is in the twilight of his career, but this is one grass court event he knows he can win.

"The Magician"topped countryman Nicolas Mahut in last year's final to claim his first singles title since 2002.

Santoro, who has not won on tour since his victory here a year ago, will play Spain's Ivan Navarro in the round of eight.

Navarro moved on Thursday with a 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-4 win over number eight Kevin Anderson of South Africa.

Mahut was the number seed here, but his tournament ended abruptly courtesy of American veteran Vincent Spadea, who came away with a 6-2, 6-3 second-round victory.

The 33-year-old Spadea, a finalist here in 2005, next will face Austrian qualifier Alexander Peya, who dispatched American Donald Young, 7-6 (4) 6-3.

Young, the sixth seed, has been tabbed by many as the future of American tennis.

The 18-year-old reached a career-high ranking of 73rd in April, but has lost five straight ATP-level matches in slipping to 93rd.

In the top half of the draw, Canadian Frank Dancevic continued his quest for his first title of the year with a 7-5 6-3 victory over fourth seed Igor Kunitsyn of Russia.

The seventh seed here, Dancevic has been on a roll of late, making headlines at Wimbledon last month when he stunned seventh-seeded David Nalbandian in the opening round.

Dancevic's next foe will be wild card Prakash Amritraj, the 305th ranked player in the world.

Amritraj is through to the semi-finals after topping qualifier Rohan Bopanna, 6-2 6-3 in a battle of players from India.

Wild card Amritraj became the first Indian to reach an ATP semi-final since Leander Paes (Newport in 1998).

Reuters