WASHINGTON: Mardy Fish booked his first ATP quarter-final in five months as the top seed progressed at the ATP/WTA Washington event with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ricardas Berankis on Thursday.
Fish, who missed two months of the season with an accelerated heartbeat problem, will face unseeded Belgian Xavier Malisse after the 32-year-old beat French sixth seed Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-2.
Malisse and Fish, ranked 15th in the world after breaching the ATP top 10 last season, are 2-2 but have not played in six years.
Fish crushed Berankis, who moved up 38 spots in the world rankings to 103 after reaching last week’s Los Angeles final.
Fish said that the ankle which forced him to withdraw two weeks ago from Atlanta is not bothering him.
“It feels fine, it’s not perfect but I can handle it. Things are getting better. I’m pleased with how I’m playing, it was good to win in an hour and try to get ready for the quarter-final tomorrow.”
Fish, who ruled himself out of the London Games, hammered down 10 aces against Berankis, breaking four times in his rout.
South African Kevin Anderson seeded third, beat Florent Serra of France 6-4, 6-4.
Anderson earned his third hardcourt win of the summer after reaching the second round in Atlanta.
He punished qualifier Serra with 12 aces in a match lasting just under 90 minutes, with Anderson breaking three times and losing only one serve.
Anderson will next play number eight Sam Querrey, another big hitter who has been steadily raising his ranking this season after two years of injury. The Californian fired nine aces to the eight of Germany’s Benjamin Becker in a 6-4, 6-3 result. Querrey leads Anderson by a narrow 5-3 margin, with the South African winning their last two meetings this season in Miami and Houston. The pair will play for the fourth time in 2012.
In women’s quarter-final play, Russian top seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova advanced over Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan 6-4, 6-4. Chang saved seven of the 10 break points she faced.
Third seed Sloane Stephens of the US beat Wimbledon junior winner Eugenie Bouchard, of Canada, 6-4, 6-4.
Nadal pulls out of Toronto Masters
Meantime, Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next week’s Toronto Masters Series hardcourt tournament, the Spanish world No. 3 confirmed on Thursday.
The 26-year-old’s announcement follows his decision not to defend his title at the London Olympics, and throws into doubt his participation in the US Open which gets underway in Flushing Meadow on Aug. 27.
“Hi all, wanted to let you know that I won’t be playing Toronto this year,” Nadal wrote on his Twitter account.
“I am not ready to play and I hope to be back in 2014 at that great tournament that has always treat me very well. I am continuing with my recup and practice. Thanks!“
Nadal pulled out of the Games after claiming he was “not in condition” to compete following a recurrence of the knee problems which have troubled him for several years.
He had struggled with the injury throughout his French Open title-winning campaign and looked well short of his best in a stunning Wimbledon second round defeat against unheralded Czech Lukas Rosol.
Nadal added in a statement: “Coming to Toronto is always one of the highlights of my season so I’m very disappointed that I can’t play there this year.
“I was planning on coming to Toronto and did everything I could to be ready but I still need some more time to recover.”
It will be the first time since his debut appearance in 2004 that Nadal will miss the Canadian Masters event which he won in 2005 and 2008.
Additional main draw withdrawals include Spaniards David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco and France’s Gael Monfils.