Benneteau, Serra reach quarters
LYON, France -- Fifth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France and countryman Florent Serra reached the quarterfinals of the Lyon Grand Prix on Wednesday.
Serra upset No. 8 Albert Montanes of Spain 7-5, 6-3, while Benneteau beat qualifier Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-2.
Serra's 11th ace converted his first match point, and Benneteau broke the South African's serve four times.
In first-round matches, No. 2 Gilles Simon of France had 14 aces in a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) win over Simone Bolelli of Italy, and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany rallied from a set down to beat Sebastien Grosjean of France 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2) in a match lasting nearly 2½ hours.
Also, 2006 champion Paul-Henri Mathieu defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Belgium's Olivier Rochus downed French qualifier Vincent Millot 6-3, 6-2.
"I played a solid match. It wasn't a great match because it's never easy to play against someone you don't know," Mathieu said. "You never know what to expect and you start tentatively."
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
