Wed Jun 18 15:20:25 2008

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Verdasco, Karlovic advance; Stepanek pulls out in Nottingham

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Nottingham, England (Sports Network) - Third-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and reigning champion Ivo Karlovic posted second-round wins, while top-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek pulled out of The Slazenger Open, a final grass-court Wimbledon tuneup.

Verdasco vaulted past American Bobby Reynolds 6-2, 6-3, while Karlovic won his seventh straight match at The City of Nottingham Tennis Centre with a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (16-14) decision against American Sam Querrey. The 6-foot-10 Croatian Karlovic, who beat 5-foot-8 Frenchman Arnaud Clement in last year's finale here, blasted 27 aces on his way to dismissing Querrey.

Stepanek, meanwhile, was scheduled to meet American qualifier Vincent Spadea on Day 3, but the Czech withdrew from the bout due to a rib injury, thus giving Spadea a walkover in the quarterfinals.

In other action involving seeds, No. 5 Frenchman Gilles Simon slipped past Aussie qualifier Samuel Groth 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 6-4, No. 7 Italian Andreas Seppi saved a match point before outlasting Argentine Eduardo Schwank 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7) and No. 8 Frenchman Gael Monfils overcame compatriot Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Monfils reached the French Open semifinals two weeks ago.

One other second-rounder saw Croat Marin Cilic handle British qualifier Alex Bogdanovic 6-4, 6-4.

Thursday's quarters will pit Verdasco against Simon, Karlovic versus Seppi, Monfils against Spadea and Swede Thomas Johansson versus Cilic. Johansson received a walkover into the quarters when sixth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov was disqualified from the tournament here on Tuesday. Tursunov walked off the court during a doubles match on Day 2, prompting officials to remove the Russian from both the doubles and singles draws.

The 2002 Australian Open champion Johansson captured this Nottingham event in 2001.