Galvani troubles Ancic; Tursunov inconsistent

A very inconsistent-looking world No. 11, Croat Mario Ancic, managed to get the better of unseeded Italian Stefano...

A very inconsistent-looking world No. 11, Croat Mario Ancic, managed to get the better of unseeded Italian Stefano Galvani 6-1, 7-6 6 to enter the quarter finals of the 3,80,000 Kingfisher Airlines ATP Open at the Cricket Club of India courts today.

After winning the first set rather easily at 6-1, with breaks in the second and sixth games, Ancic lost his rhythm in the next. The Italian, ranked at 108, troubled the Croat. After trading early breaks, he forced Ancic to go through the agony of a tie-breaker which Ancic eventually won at 8-6. 8220;I played a very bad second set. I was lucky to have closed the match out. Galvani was improving with every point and could have troubled me in the third,8217;8217; said Ancic later. Joining him in the last eight was third seed Czech Tomas Berdych, who sidelined unseeded German Simon Greul 7-6 4, 6-4.

The most interesting duel of the day was between Russian Dmitry Tursunov and Denmark8217;s Kristine Pless. Tursunov, still in jet lag after his 12-hour flight from Moscow following his historic win over Andy Roddick in the Davis Cup semis, was stretched before putting it across Kristian Pless from Denmark 6-7 5, 6-3, 6-4. In an inconsistent display, the 22nd ranked Tursunov played well in patches: sometimes a lot of punch behind serves and then careless returns into net.

After opening a 4-2 lead in the first set, Tursunov allowed Pless to force the set into the tie-break. Tursunov ran out of luck at 4-2, when Pless8217; well measured return just hit the net-cord and rolled over. Pless held on to close out the tie-break at 7-5. 8220;That8217;s my game; sometimes I go on and off. The first set was an indication of me getting spaced out. I8217;m trying to be consistent,8217;8217; he said later.

Tursunov was in full flow in the second set, suddenly finding his groove. He broke Pless in the fourth game and then hung onto that lead to win the set at 6-3.

Meanwhile, Briton James Auckland continued his good run, clinching a hard-fought 7-6 3, 7-6 5 win over eighth-seed Wesley Moodie of South Africa to enter the quarter finals. Both sets went to serve, and were only decided via tie-break in an hour and 48 minutes.