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Kubot, Garcia-Lopez reach Casablanca quarterfinals
4/7/10 6:41 PM | Ricky Dimon
Lukasz Kubot and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ease into the Casblanca quarterfinals on Wednesday. They are joined there by Potito Starace, who destroyed Oscar Hernandez.
(4) Lukasz Kubot d. Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-1
In a dreadful display of serving by both men, Kubot dispatched Clement in one hour and 36 minutes on Tuesday evening to reach the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II. Kubot double-faulted a whopping eight times, but he broke Clement a ridiculous seven times, converting seven of 10 opportunities. After the 42nd-ranked Pole held to close out the first set, the second opened with three straight breaks. Clement, who won only two service games, did not hold serve a single time in the second set. Kubot won 69 pecent of the Frenchman's second-serve points on his way to a meeting with Potito Starace.
(2) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez d. Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-2
Garcia-Lopez made quick work of his fellow Spaniard on Wednesday, winning his opening match in Casablanca after one hour and 26 minutes of play. The world No. 40 needed just one break to take the first set, as he faced no break points in his first five service games. Garcia-Lopez surrendered his own serve once in the second, but a typical baseline clay-court match saw him earn another three scalps of the Granollers serve. A routine service hold at 5-2 clinched victory for Garcia-Lopez, who converted his first match point when Granollers sent a forehand well wide. Next up for the No. 2 seed is Florent Serra, who beat Stephane Robert in three sets.
Potito Starace d. Oscar Hernandez 6-2, 6-1
Hernandez ended a dreadful 12-match losing streak on Monday when he upset No. 5 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, but the 32-year-old Spaniard could not turn it into a winning streak. Starace crushed Hernandez in a mere one hour and six minutes in second-round action on Wednesday. The 73rd-ranked Italian did not face a single break point the entire way, and his second break of the match finished off the first set in style. More of the same continued in set two, as Starace capitalized on both of his break-point opportunities before serving out the proceedings at 5-1.