LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Russell beat top-seeded Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday night to advance to the Farmers Classic quarterfinals.
Russell, the 34-year-old former University of Miami player ranked 83rd in the world, has never won a singles title in ATP Tour play. He will face sixth-seeded Marinko Matosevic on Friday. Matosevic topped Tobias Kamke 6-3, 1-6, 6-0.
In other second-round matches, fourth-seeded Nicolas Mahut beat Paolo Lorenzi 7-5, 7-6 (7), fifth-seeded Xavier Malisse held off Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-3, and Ricardas Berankis beat Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5.
Mahut will play Berankis, and Malisse will face second-seeded Sam Querrey, the 2009 and 2010 tournament winner who missed the event last year after undergoing surgery for a right shoulder injury. In the other quarterfinal, third-seeded Leonardo Mayer will face Rajeev Ram.
