BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Third-seeded Gaels Monfils opened his Nastase Tiriac Trophy account with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis on Thursday.
Following a first-round bye, Monfils broke Berankis four times in their first meeting to reach the quarterfinals after rain delayed the start of play for more than three hours.
With Paul-Henri Mathieu or Marius Copil next, Monfils is looking to regain his early season form, when he won the title in Montpellier and reached the final in Doha.
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Second-seeded Mikhail Youzhny fell in his opening match in Bucharest for a second straight year, and lost to Dutchman Robin Haase for the first time in six matches, 6-3, 6-3. Haase faces Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan on Friday.
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