Tennis: Anderson, Klizan reach quarters in Morocco

CASABLANCA (AP) - Kevin Anderson of South Africa reached the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II by defeating Spanish qualifier Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday.

The second-seeded Anderson will next play Grega Zemlja of Slovenia, who beat Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Martin Klizan of Slovakia also advanced by dispatching Italian qualifier Filippo Volandri 6-4, 7-6 (5).

The third-seeded Klizan will face Robin Haase of the Netherlands, who outlasted Kenny De Schepper of France 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3.

Anderson won six straight games to capture the first set and lead 4-0 in the second. He lost just a point on serve in the first set.

Carreno-Busta got some attention this year by winning seven futures titles and knocking out defending champion Pablo Andujar in the first round at Casablanca.

He managed to break Anderson s serve in the fifth game of the second set but Anderson held on to convert his second match point with a forehand winner.

In the other second-round matches, Zemlja saved four set points to force a tiebreaker, and took the first set with a backhand winner. The eighth-seeded Slovenian moved into a 5-0 lead in the second and clinched the victory with a forehand winner.

Voted  newcomer of the year  in 2012, Klizan struggled with his serve in the opening set, double-faulting five times and landing only 40 percent of his first serves. But the Slovakian broke serve three times to grab the first set.

Klizan rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the next set. He then wasted two match points at 6-5 but held his nerve in the tie-breaker, winning the match with a drop shot.

The seventh-seeded Haase broke De Schepper twice in the first set. But the Frenchman fought back by winning the first four points in the tie-breaker before slamming a smash to level at one set apiece.

Haase capitalized on a double fault from De Schepper to lead 2-0 in the final set. The Dutchman then saved four break points to secure the victory.