Day three of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Third seed Davydenko is the big casualty while Federer and Djokovic advance in contrasting styles on a busy third day at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Richard Gasquet of France sends in a low forehand volley at the Aviation Club.

ALSO:

Dubai quarter-finalist Berdych waiting to hit big time
Djokovic gets a tough test from Feliciano Lopez

That is the end of day three then and we wrap up the proceedings from the day's final stage with this agency update while our reporters were busy writing the above mentioned reports for you.

11.30pm: Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have reached the  quarter-finals in contrasting fashion.

Djokovic struggled to overcome the inspired net play of Feliciano Lopez of Spain, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Federer had an easier time, beating Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour.

They were joined by Tomas Berdych in the last eight after the third-seeded Czech beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Berdych, Djokovic and Roger Federer are the only three seeded players left in the tournament after eighth-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia was upset 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 by Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine.

Associated Press adds: Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, reached the quarter-finals of the Dubai Championships, overcoming the inspired net play of Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

Djokovic joined Tomas Berdych in the last eight after the third-seeded Czech beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Berdych, Djokovic and Roger Federer are the only three seeded players left in the tournament. Eighth-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia was upset by Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

Bubka runs out of gas to lose a winning match against Gasquet

5.30pm Richard Gasquet won the final five games in the second set to overcome a spirited challenge from qualifier Sergei Bubka Jr to win 6-2, 7-5 and reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Gasquet won the first set comfortably, breaking into the lead at 3-2 when the Ukrainian netted a backhand and then again for 5-2 when he made another backhand error.

But the son of the legendary pole-vaulter came late into the party to fight back to 5-3 in the second. However, the big stage nerves got to the wild card entrant who conceded not only serving for the set but the next one in the ninth and 11th games respectively.

The weak backhand was the nemesis again  as another unforced error signalled the end of the 342-ranked Ukranian's challenge.

"He played well in the start of the second set. I got more pressure. He played with a lot of big shots," said Gasquet. "And, me, I played maybe too slow. I played a bad game at 1-0 for him in the second.

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Meanwhile, news from Croatia is that Mario Ancic has decided to hang up his racquet. Ancic reached a career-high ranking of No 7 in 2006, two years after he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for his best Grand Slam result.

However, he suffered from mononucleosis in 2007 and lately has struggled with a back injury.

Bubka on course to cause an upset in Dubai

3.15pm Sergei Bubka, ranked 342 in the world, is poised to pull off a surprise on centre court and balance proceedings against Richard Gasquet after slipping to a 6-2 defeat in the opening set.

The Ukrainian is currently serving for the set with the score at 5-3.

Elsewhere, Florian Mayer is also looking good to dump Andrey Golubev out of the this week's tournament. The German leads 6-3, 5-4.

The National's Ahmed Rizvi spoke to Bubka, the son of the legendary pole-vaulter Sergey, yesterday. Read it here in yesterday's blog.

Traffic jams around the Aviation Club and a gripping day of tennis ahead

2.15pm The traffic surrounding the Aviation Club is nose to tail in parts and the dedicated parking area is full to the brim on this hot and humid afternoon.

Where all the people are going is yet to become clear as the stands are still reasonably empty, but I'm sure that will change as the day grows long.

First up on Centre Court is Richard Gasquet and Sergei Bubka, while Andrey Golubev and Florian Mayer do battle on court two. Ernests Gulbis and Sergiy Stakhovsky round of this afternoon's second round curtain openers on court three.

The top trio of seeds are not in action until later in the day, with Tomas Berdych taking to the court against Nikolay Davydenko at around 4pm and Novak Djokovich facing Feliciano Lopez following him at 7pm.

At around 9pm comes the legend that is Roger Federer. With 16 major titles and four Dubai championships, the top seed is undoubtedly the favourite for this week's tournament. Today's opponent is Marcel Granollers.

The preamble

DUBAI // Hello and welcome to The National's coverage of the third day of the men's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships at the Aviation Club.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic eased into today's second-round with both earning comfortable 6-3, 6-3 victories. Federer, the No 1 seed, dispatched wild card Somdev Devvarman lates last night, while Djokovic, the reigning champion, defeated the Frenchman Michael Llodra.

They are in action again today on Centre Court, along with the No 3 seed Tomas Berdych, who won on the opening day.

Order of play today

Centre Court, 2pm start

R Gasquet v S Bubka
N Davydenko v T Berdych
Not Before 7:00 PM
F Lopez v  N Djokovic
R Federer v M Granollers

While we wait for the action to start, take in some of the headlines from today's newspaper as well as catching up on the blow-by-blow accounts of the past two days of play.

Latest from opening day of Dubai Tennis Championships