NICE, France – Top-seeded John Isner had 13 aces on his way to a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) win against Belgium's Xavier Malisse at the Open de Nice on Wednesday.
The hard-serving American will play Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals after the Russian topped seventh-seeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
No. 2 Gilles Simon of France and No. 3 Nicolas Almagro of Spain also advanced to the last eight.
Simon downed Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-3 and will play Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, who beat Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 6-3.
Almagro overcame Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6 (5), 6-4 and will face Steve Darcis of Belgium, who rallied past Italian Filippo Volandri 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
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