Casablanca, Morocco – Defending champion Pablo Andujar won a pair of matches on Friday to continue his quest of a repeat title at the Grand Prix Hassan II tennis event.
The third-seeded Andujar first needed to win a second-round match, postponed from Thursday because of rain, and did so easily with a 6-3, 6-0 rout of Italy's Potito Starace. The 69-minute encounter kept the Spaniard fresh enough to earn a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over countrymate Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol, who also had to play a second-round match Friday and advanced with a 6-4, 6-1 win over fellow qualifier Lamine Ouahab.
Next up for Andujar will be Italy's Flavio Cipolla, who notched a 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal triumph over France's Benoit Paire.
Russia's Igor Andreev and seventh-seeded Spaniard Albert Ramos also posted quarterfinal wins Friday.
Andreev dumped Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-4, 6-2, while Ramos claimed a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. Ramos will play in his second semifinal of the year, having lost to Nicolas Almagro at the Brasil Open in February.
The winner of this $522,000 tournament will collect $71,900.
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