Top-seeded James Blake beat Paul Capdeville of Chile 6-1, 6-4 to become the sixth American to reach the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach International on Thursday.
Blake joined third-seeded Sam Querrey, sixth-seeded Vince Spadea, eighth-seeded Mardy Fish, wild card Robby Ginepri and Bobby Reynolds as second-round winners.
“It’s a great thing,” Blake said of the Americans’ success.
Giles Simon stunned Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Open 13 on Thursday.
Monica Seles officially retired from tennis Thursday, five years after she played the last match of a career that included nine Grand Slam singles titles and was interrupted at its height when she was stabbed in the back during a match.
“I have for some time considered a return to professional play, but I have now decided not to pursue that,” the 34-year-old Seles said in a statement released by her agent.
Top-ranked Justine Henin rallied from a set and a break down to beat Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 and reach the quarterfinals of the Diamond Games on Thursday.
However, second-seeded Anna Chakvetadze was upset 6-3, 7-5 by Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson in the second round.
Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro defeated Boris Pashanski 6-2, 6-3 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Brazil Open for the third straight year.
Fifth-seeded Filippo Volandri defeated Guillermo Coria 6-1, 6-2 in 51 minutes. Coria, bothered by a sore shoulder, won his first ATP match in 19 months two days ago.
Seventh-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia rallied to beat Maria Elena Camerin of Italy 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to make the quarterfinals of the Cachantun Cup on Thursday.
Kanepi took more than two hours to post her second quarterfinals run of the year.
Eighth-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic also advanced when scheduled opponent Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia withdrew before the match with what organizers called a painful neck injury.
Marat Safin withdrew from the upcoming SAP Open because of a stress fracture in his right leg and stomach flu.
Safin missed last weekend’s Davis Cup tie for Russia against Serbia. He had been scheduled to play an exhibition next Monday against Pete Sampras to start the tournament. Tommy Haas will replace Safin in that match.
Fernando Gonzalez and Juan Martin Del Potro withdrew Monday from the San Jose tournament with injuries.
Three spectators were kicked out of the Diamond Games tournament because they were betting on a match online from the stands.
They were seen betting on points in real time from their laptops during a first-round match Monday and asked to leave, organizers said Tuesday. No further action was taken.
The WTA Tour is taking a tough stance against gambling at tournaments, especially after betting scandals on the ATP tour have tarnished the sport.
Former star player Ilie Nastase resigned as head of the Romanian Tennis Federation on Tuesday, after newspapers criticized him for spending too much money on a Davis Cup match against France which Romania lost 5-0.
Nastase said he was also resigning because he had failed to purchase a building and land for a tennis academy, which had been one of his goals.
“I have been defeated by the justice system and the press in Romania,” he told Realitatea TV.
Top-ranked Justine Henin rallied from a set down to defeat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday and reach the quarterfinals of the Diamond Games. Second-seeded Anna Chakvetadze was upset 6-3, 7-5 by Sofia Arvidsson.
