Chennai, India (SportsNetwork.com) – The season-opening Chennai Open lost
its second seed on Thursday when Feliciano Lopez succumbed to Slovenian
qualifier Aljaz Bedene, 6-4, 6-4.
Three other seeds avoided upsets, as No. 3 Spaniard and 2013 runner-up Roberto
Bautista Agut handled German Peter Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-2, No. 5 Spaniard
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez overcame Japan’s Tatsuma Ito 6-7 (1-7), 6-2, 6-0 and
No. 6 Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan got past Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-4 on
the hardcourts at SDAT Tennis Stadium.
Friday’s quarterfinals will pit top-seeded and defending champion Stan
Wawrinka against eighth-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg; Bautista Agut
versus Lu; fourth-seeded Belgian David Goffin against Austrian Andreas Haider-
Maurer; and Garcia-Lopez versus Bedene.
The two-time Chennai champ Wawrinka, who also titled here in 2011 and
was the runner-up in 2010, beat Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin in
last year’s finale.
Chennai serves as a tune-up for the Australian Open, where Wawrinka is also
the reigning titlist.
